Beneath the Eye of the Storm
by Tari3
Summary: Five years after Harry leaves Hogwarts, Voldemort is still around, creating disarray in the wizarding world. Harry sees himself as being caught in the eye of the storm. When someone he cares for is taken away from him, he finds he is drawn even deeper int
1. Everyday Life

**_A/N_**_: This is my first chaptered fic. So, be nice ;) Translation for the little bit in French is at the bottom. Enjoy!_

**Chapter One**

***^*^***

**Everyday Life**

"James," Ginny greeted her contact as she sat down at a table outside of Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour in the near-empty Diagon Alley. She placed a copy of _The Daily Prophet_ on the table, and noted the briefcase at her feet. She looked across the table to find the blond-haired, blue-eyed, scar-less, glasses-less Harry Potter staring back at the equally unrecognisable Ginny Weasley.  

Ginny suppressed the smile that was threatening to emerge. His nose was also under a glamour spell, as was his chin and cheekbones. 

"Monty," Harry replied. Ginny smiled inwardly at her code-name. Harry had made it up when she first needed it years ago. Montana, or Monty as her close friends called her.

Ginny pretended to bite her fingernails as she muttered, "Is it all there?"

"Hmmm," Harry replied affirmatively. "When do you leave?"

"An hour," she said through her thumbnail, and Harry picked up the copy of _The Daily Prophet_ and looked at the front page briefly before tucking it away in his robes. Ginny returned her hand to her lap. "Nice weather we've been having recently."

Harry nodded. "Too nice. There's a storm about to break, I'm sure of it. It's been too quiet for too long."

Ginny nodded. It had been unnervingly quiet recently. There had been very few attacks, and for the past month, Voldemort seemed to be on holiday. More than likely, he was preparing for a large-scale attack of some sort.  

Ginny wondered if she would ever see a peaceful time again. The way things had been progressing in recent years, it seemed doubtful. Especially after Lucius Malfoy successfully writhed his way into the position of Minister of Magic, securing the entire Ministry under Voldemort's control. It was horribly amazing how he had gone from an Azkaban prisoner after Ginny's fourth year at Hogwarts, to Minister of Magic in five short years. Ginny had no doubt in her mind that it had something to do with his large account at Gringotts, as well as the fact that Lucius had most of the voters well in his pocket out of pure fear. But ever since his coup d'etat two years ago, after the mysterious death of Cornelius Fudge, the wizarding world in Britain and most of Europe was in utter chaos. Chaos that was spreading worldwide fast.

Peace seemed to be in the farthest reaches of the universe.  

Yet, looking across to the blond Harry, Ginny knew she was doing the only thing she could be doing now, fighting for that unreachable peace. This was what she had been fighting for long before Voldemort regained power. She had been struggling for the end of the war, at least consciously, ever since her first year at Hogwarts. She had been an active member of the D.A. from its formation until when she left Hogwarts. She took over as leader of the D.A. for Harry after he left Hogwarts and used her experience of being possessed to help teach members how to resist said ill.  

Right before leaving Hogwarts her seventh year, Ginny had approached McGonagall about becoming a member of the Order of the Phoenix. A week later, Ginny had been inducted in.

"Shit," muttered Harry, bringing Ginny back to the present. He was looking over her shoulder. Ginny knew she couldn't look, it would be too suspicious, but, no matter. She knew what she would find if she did and fear began coursing through her veins. The M.L.E.S. officers, now almost all Death Eaters, were checking papers. Nowadays everyone by law had to carry identification papers, stating their name, wand specifics, address, any particular magical talents, and details of any recent travels.

"Let's go." Ginny reached for the briefcase as Harry muttered a charm to turn that briefcase into a button, which Ginny placed into her pocket. They got up together and walked as discreetly as possible away from the ice cream parlour. 

"Hey, you two!  Stop!" Apparently, they had not been discreet enough.

Immediately Ginny broke out into a run, Harry right beside her. She could hear several Death Eaters following them. Ginny stole a glance behind her. There were three, and they weren't extremely close. At least she and Harry had gotten a head start.

"Come on," said Harry hoarsely, grabbing Ginny's hand and pulling right, into another alleyway. They quickly turned left and right again, bringing them into a tiny dead end. Ginny quickly pulled out her wand and changed her hair and robe colour. She noticed Harry doing the same. She silently cursed Lucius Malfoy for the Apparition wards he placed on Diagon Alley and the surrounding paths.

Harry cursed again as he pushed Ginny against the wall and kissed her forcefully. Ginny felt his hands wrap around her waist, and she immediately lifted her hands to his neck and shoulders.  

She knew Harry hadn't cursed at her, and also understood why he kissed her. On both counts, it was because of the Death Eaters. Yet both the curse and the kiss managed to make Ginny feel extremely awkward. She had never truly gotten over Harry, even though she had claimed to. No matter how many boyfriends she'd had.  No matter that everyone believed her crush had long been forgotten. The fact that Harry had cursed like that before kissing her, coupled with the fact that he hadn't _wanted _to kiss her, hurt Ginny. It hurt her more than she wanted to admit.  

But she would never let that hurt show. Not to anyone. Especially not to Harry.

After a few moments, once the danger of being caught was past, Harry leaned back. Ginny opened her eyes and found Harry looking towards the entrance to the small alley. Ginny followed his gaze to find nothing there before realizing her hand was damp.

"I knew meeting in Diagon Alley was a mistake. I'm going to have a word with Dung about how to pick a better rendezvous point," Harry growled. "Can't even Apparate out of here when in trouble.  Damn it!"

"Harry," Ginny gasped looking at the blood on her hand. "What…?"

Harry immediately backed up, and Ginny felt a pang of loss as his hands fell from her waist. "Nothing," he mumbled. "Minor hex. I'm all right."

Ginny sighed and let her hands fall beside her and gave Harry a piercing stare. He wasn't going to get away with that. She never let him, and there was no way she'd allow him to pull the hero act now.

Harry looked slightly uncomfortable under Ginny's unwavering gaze as he kept his eyes on the entrance to the small nook they were in. He scratched the back of his neck and mumbled, "I'll see Patricia when I get back." Ginny held the look for a moment longer until Harry looked her straight in the eye and said in a reassuring voice, "I will, Ginny. Promise."

Ginny smiled, and her mind was brought back to the task at hand. "You still got the you-know-what?"

Harry felt around the front pocket of his robes. He nodded and asked, "You?"

Hand in her pocket, Ginny nodded. She pushed off the wall, "I'll go first. Wait at least thirty seconds before following." She started out towards the entryway but stopped as she felt a hand grip her wrist. She turned and looked into Harry's now blue eyes. It was strange, even through the blue, Ginny could still see Harry shining through.

"Be safe," he whispered.

Ginny nodded and struggled for her voice, "You too." She was proud with herself that she managed to talk in a controlled, steady voice.

Harry nodded and she turned once again to leave. She managed to make her way out to Diagon Alley without attracting any attention, making Ginny feel slightly relieved. She was halfway to the Leaky Cauldron when she felt someone's eyes on her. It was probably just Harry and she turned her head slightly to make sure.  

Yes, it was Harry. She knew that walk anywhere.  How very like him to watch over her, making sure she got out all right. He always did that for his friends. That was something that would never change about him.  

He hadn't changed so much since Hogwarts; most of his qualities were magnified over the years. He was even more introverted now. And very bitter. That seemed to be the only emotion Harry ever let anyone else see. That and anger. He very rarely smiled and never laughed anymore.

Harry was also notoriously single. It had come to be a sort of joke in the Order of how badly Harry needed a shag. Ginny didn't find that last bit funny.  

Sure, Ginny wanted Harry to be happy, and that included wanting Harry to find someone he loved. Yet she knew that Harry was too busy for that now. She also knew that Harry would never want to make someone a target; and by dating, he would do exactly that. His last girlfriend had been brutally murdered four years ago. She had been raped and then bled by a pair of Death Eaters. They had let the blood run out of her veins. They hadn't allowed her to have the quick death Avada Kedavra offers. Her body had shown up in Hogsmeade just in time for several Hogwarts students to come across it.

There hadn't been another women since then. At least, none that anyone knew about.

One night last year, on one of those rare nights none of them had an assignment, Harry, Hermione, Ron and Ginny got completely pissed. It probably wasn't the smartest thing to do in the middle of a war, when they could be called to battle at any moment, but they all needed the release. During that night, when confronted about his permanent single status, Harry offhandedly confessed that he already felt bad enough about making his friends targets to even think about dating.  

Entering the Leaky Cauldron, Ginny looked around, surveying the scene before her. She recognized a few faces towards the back, none of who were threats. She made her way quickly to the exit, wishing she could stop and greet her friends, but knew her task was too important to delay further. She had a train to catch.

*

Ginny looked behind her and nodded briefly to Harry, indicating she was fine before walking through ticket control. He had followed her from Diagon Alley all the way to Waterloo Station. If it had been anyone else, she would have been completely infuriated, but Harry made her only partly put out by this display. The rest of her felt comforted that someone was looking out for her.

She handed her passport and ticket to the guard. Ginny held her breath for a second, waiting to see if she'd be let through. The passport wasn't exactly real, and while Ginny knew it was flawless, she was a bit nervous about it. 

However, the guard at passport control waved her through after a quick glance.

Ginny stepped towards security briskly. She had to take Muggle transportation to Paris, as magical transportation was too risky at the moment. No one could Apparate, Portkey or Floo out of Britain without going through massive security. Although with certain glamours, Ginny probably could get through magically, it still wasn't safe. And so, here she was walking towards her gate to board what Muggles called the Eurostar, a train that travelled in a tunnel under the English Channel to get to France.  

There was always the chance that there would be some magical personnel walking around watching out for exactly what Ginny was attempting, so Ginny kept the glamour she had cast in Diagon Alley and kept an eye out for anyone who looked out of place. However, she saw nothing, and she handed her ticket to another guard before climbing some broken escalators to the platform.

  
*****

Harry ruffled through the papers scratched with untidy scribble that lay before him on a mahogany desk. Apart from the desk and matching chair, the tiny room was void of furniture, replaced instead by large stacks of antique books which had been hastily shoved into place by an exasperated Hermione the week before after complaining that the room was entirely too messy. However, Harry was just annoyed by this new arrangement. Before Hermione's crusade, he had been able to find whatever he needed. Now he felt as though he'd never be able to find anything useful again.  

Not that he had found anything useful in months anyway.

The desk Harry was sitting at was cluttered with loose parchment and various books, in quite a similar fashion to the rest of the room, as it had been subject to Hermione's 'cleaning spree' as well. Much like the rest of the room, Harry couldn't make heads or tails at what he was looking at.  

When Harry, Remus and Hermione first started this project, they had made astounding progress. Unfortunately, over the last year, their progress had slowed considerably. In fact, Harry thought it was safe to say they hadn't made any new development at all for a very long time.

Harry was beginning to think this whole project was a waste and that they would never find what they were looking for. The project started five years ago, just after leaving Hogwarts, when Harry had posed the question of how Voldemort was to be killed. Harry knew he was the only one who could destroy Voldemort permanently, but he wasn't sure if Avada Kedavra would work on him. Would it be as simple as the Killing Curse? Or was there something else?

Avada Kedavra was used to kill living things. Voldemort didn't seem human enough to die from only the Killing Curse.  

And so, Harry, Hermione and Remus began to research other methods of destruction. They studied the defeat of past evils, and they slowly gathered theories. About three months after they started their research they brought in Moira Glaister, a trusted member of the Order of the Phoenix who was about as skilled in problem solving as Hermione. It had been decided that their project should be extremely confidential. They didn't want it to leak back to Voldemort that they were researching ways to defeat him. In fact, the only other person who knew about their research was Ron.

However, despite all their research and findings, they still didn't know how to destroy Voldemort completely. They hadn't even been able to find the answer to Harry's original question about Avada Kedavra.

Harry tore his eyes from the blue scribble when he heard a knock on the door. A moment later Remus entered carrying a small tray.

"Harry, I thought you might like some tea. You've been up here for hours." Remus brought the tray over and placed it on one of the more sturdy piles of books near the desk. He looked tired. There were bags under his eyes and his hair was greyer than ever. The full moon was in a few days.

"Right. Thanks, Remus." Harry reached over to the tray to grab a muffin and unceremoniously shoved it in his mouth.

"Have you made any progress?" Remus' voice was hopeful, yet resigned to the probability of a negative response.

Harry sighed through his full mouth and shook his head. He swallowed, and sipped at his tea. "Not a damned thing. All I've managed to do was get thoroughly confused by Hermione's new system."

"Ah, yes," Remus smiled wearily. "Her new system that 'would make everything amazingly clear and easy to find.' I fear that all it has done is confuse us all. It'll take a bit of time to get used to it."

"I don't see what was wrong with the old system. I knew where everything was then." Harry sighed deeply and picked up some papers and gave them a glance.

Remus chuckled. "She's frustrated with our lack of findings recently and felt she needed to do something productive. I know the feeling. You should get that looked at."

Harry glanced over at his shoulder. It didn't hurt so much anymore, it was more a dull throb of annoyance than anything. It looked much worse than it was; the sleeve of Harry's robes was drenched in dried blood, with just a tiny hole where his injury occured. Harry shrugged at Remus' suggestion and muttered, "Later."

Remus simply gave Harry a look. Harry knew that look well, and it always made his chest swell with emotion. It was the look Remus gave when he could see James through Harry, he knew it. Harry briefly wondered what Remus was reliving in his head. If the memory was a specific instance or more of an overall impression.

"I'll go soon." Harry picked up a book from the far right corner of the desk and opened to a random page.

*

Ginny sat, leaning against the iron grail of the metro entrance in Place Blanche awaiting her contact. She looked around at the passing Muggles, envious of their laughter. She tried to listen in on their conversations, yet, as most people were speaking French, Ginny understood next to nothing. Only once in a while an Anglophone would pass and her ears would perk to the familiar language.

"Bonjour, mademoiselle," a rough voice whispered.

Deliberately avoiding eye contact, Ginny checked her watch, hoping the man who had just sidled up next to her would leave. He wasn't her contact. Her contact would speak English. Her contact also wouldn't reek of alcohol.

"Vous êtes très belle," the man continued. Ginny turned, giving the man her back.

The man only laughed, making the hairs on the back of Ginny's neck stand on end. She gripped her wand, not wanting to use it.

"Vous êtes très fière. J'aime beaucoup la fierté."  

Ginny turned slowly, carefully pulling out her wand so that no Muggle could see.

"Ça coute combien pour une demie heure?"

Pointing her wand, Ginny muttered a Memory Charm and a Distracter Spell. Immediately the man's eyes blurred and he turned away muttering something in French.

Quickly concealing her wand once more, Ginny sent out a wish that her contact gott here soon.

Someone must have heard her; a minute later she heard someone else speak to her, this time in English. This time it was the phrase she was waiting for.

"Isn't Paris a magical city?"

Ginny smirked and turned around. "It's certainly a dirty city. Magic, I have yet to see."

Her contact smiled. She had blonde hair that went just past her shoulders and hazel eyes. She was pretty, Ginny thought. Her contact gestured to Ginny to walk with her. They walked across the street, dodging cars and motorbikes.

"I wasn't sure it was you for a moment," her contact whispered. "Your glamours are fantastic. However, when that man simply left, I knew. They don't usually leave so abruptly, or willingly."

Her voice sounded familiar. Not very familiar, but there was something about it that made Ginny sure she'd heard it before.

"Do I know you?" Ginny asked, glancing at the girl.

"Yes. And I know you. I've got glamours on as well." Her contact linked arms with Ginny and lead her down another street, away from the neon of Boulevard de Clichy. "I'm sorry you had to wait there. I hate this area; it's extremely seedy, even during the day. However, since Le Chemin de Traverse is nearby, _we _need to be nearby."

"Le Chemeh de Travers?" Ginny asked, perplexed.

Her contact turned down another street. "It's the Parisian equivalent to Diagon Alley. The entrance is right over there." She pointed at a building across the street. Then, pointing to another building on their side of the small road, she said, "And this is where we're going. We like to be able to keep an eye on Le Chemin de Traverse. Although, we do have to be very careful when we go in and out."

They stopped in front of a six-story building, and the girl punched something into a key pad. The door clicked open and they rushed inside. Past the doors, Ginny was amazed to see a beautiful courtyard filled with flowers and flowering bushes. Her jaw dropped in awe.

"I know," the girl said. "You wouldn't think that something so beautiful would be in here, but…." She shrugged. "Over here."

Ginny followed the girl to a wall behind a bush.

"Here," the girl said, giving Ginny a folded piece of paper.

Opening the paper, she felt her heart pang as she was reminded of Dumbledore and the first time she went to Grimmauld Place. Her mother had given her that note.

Sure enough, the note was almost exactly the same as the one she had been given then.

_The Headquarters of La Secte can be found at 6 Square de la Galette, Escalier B._

Ginny memorized the note and handed it back to the girl who burned it immediately with her wand. Ginny looked at the previously blank wall just in time to see a door appear. Quickly the two girls went through the door.

They climbed up one flight of stairs before coming to a door.

"Here we are," the girl said as she opened the door.

The first thing Ginny noticed was that the room was void of any furniture save for a few tables. She turned around to ask a question, but was amazed to see Parvati Patil standing where the blonde had been standing moments before.

"Parvati!" Ginny exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

Smiling, Parvati laughed and walked over to a table. "I moved here about four months ago and I've been dying for news from home ever since. International communication is very limited, especially in and out of Britain."

Ginny quickly removed her glamours and followed Parvati into the apartment. "Why though? Why Paris, of all places?"

Parvati blushed slightly. "Well, there were a few reasons. Firstly, La Secte needed help getting organized. As you know, La Secte is sort of the French equivalent of the Order of the Phoenix, but it was practically falling apart. So I volunteered to help re-establish order and help connect it to the Order of the Phoenix. Would you like some tea?"

"Er, yes, thanks." Together, they walked into the kitchen. Ginny eyed Parvati suspiciously; she had changed the subject rather abruptly. "You said there were a few reasons, Parvati."

"Yes." Ginny watched, amused, as her blush deepened. She had never known Parvati to be a blusher. "The other reason was Henri."

"Henri?" Ginny questioned, eyebrows raised.

"Henri Étain." She smiled and sighed gently. "Do you have the briefcase?"

"Yes." Ginny reached into her pocket and produced a button, which she promptly transfigured back into a briefcase.

"Good," Parvati said simply. "I need to send you back with something as well. How long are you staying for?" She offered Ginny a mug filled with steaming tea.

Taking the mug, Ginny took a deep breath. Jasmine. "One night."

"One night?"  Parvati sounded disappointed. "And I was hoping to get all the juicy gossip from home. Oh, well. Next time."

Ginny nodded, sincerely hoping there could be a next time.**__**

*

Hermione was restless. She didn't want to be here, and didn't want a reason to be here. Yet here she was, and it was pointless to try to leave; she would be rushed back into her pristine white bed by the hospital matron, Patricia Curie. However, even if she was able to get past Patricia, she wouldn't leave.

She looked to the bed beside her. Ron's unnaturally pale face was almost luminous, and a stark contrast to his vibrant hair. Hermione suddenly felt extremely nauseous.

"Patricia?" she called out.

A small flimsy head appeared from behind a curtain where Patricia kept her desk. "Yes, dear?" the head replied.

"How long did you think Ron will be like this?" Hermione focused on folding and refolding the sheet on her bed, afraid of Patricia's answer.

Patricia walked over to Ron's bed where she put her hands on her hips. She scrunched up her face in concentration and blew at her fringe. "Hopefully not long, dear."

Hermione sighed. That had been her answer for the past three days. "How long is 'not long?'" she asked as politely as she could, hoping she didn't sound as irritated as she felt.

Patricia pursed her lips together, reminding Hermione deeply of McGonagall. "Dearie, he'll wake up when he wakes up. You can't rush healing." It was Patricia's usual response, and Hermione could feel tears rising to her eyes in her usual reaction. They had danced through this same routine for the past four days, and Hermione had tried to be patient. However, today was the fifth day Ron had not woken up and her patience was running thin.

Lip trembling, she wiped away the tears from her face. "Thank you Patricia."

In an instant, Patricia lost her stern façade and let loose a sympathetic face. _That _was not part of the usual routine, and it caught Hermione off guard. "I understand, my dear. I really do, but there really is nothing more we can do than wait."

"Wait for what?" Hermione mumbled, reaching for a tissue. "For him to wake up?" She blew her nose messily. "For him to die?"

She looked up at the matron and saw something indistinguishable flash in her eye. "Child, he is still strong. He lost a lot of blood and suffered a horrid concussion, but he will wake up. You have to believe that. Don't ever lose that hope."

Hermione nodded, incapable of saying anything else. Patricia nodded and backed out of the curtained area. Immediately, Hermione threw down her used tissue and buried her head in her hands, hoping to somewhat muffle her sobs. It wasn't the first time she had cried during these past few days, far from it. Yet this time seemed to be the most truthful in some way. 

This time, she sobbed for herself.

A sudden vulgar exclamation rose Hermione from her trance. She looked up to find a very uncomfortable looking wizard with a white bandage covering his shoulder staring back at her. "Language, Harry," she muttered.

Harry looked over at Ron, his green eyes wide behind his glasses. "Is he…"

Hermione wiped at her probably blood-shot eyes. "He's been like that for about five days now with no change. Patricia says he'll wake up soon; whenever that is."

"He'll be all right though?"

Hermione bit her lip and thought for a moment. "She doesn't know." The two remained in silence for a deafening moment before Hermione spoke again. "What happened to you?"

Harry rubbed his shoulder. "Scuffle in Diagon Alley."

"Injured?"

Harry grinned sheepishly. "Just me. Although I did get a few Death Eaters pretty good. When do you get out of here?"

Hermione raised her eyebrows at Harry's not too subtle change of subject. "Officially, I can leave tomorrow."

"Unofficially?"

She looked Harry dead in the eye. "I'm not leaving until he wakes up."

*

**A/N: **_There's a part of this chapter that was very much inspired by one scene in the French film 'Bon Voyage.' I'm quite sure I've seen a similar situation before that film, but I can't remember where exactly. In any case, the scene I've taken almost directly from 'Bon Voyage' was the inspiration for this entire fic - everything grew from that one scene and situation it took place in. Ten points to anyone who knows what scene I'm talking referring to here._

_And here's the translation for those French phrases in the chapter:_

_"Bonjour, mademoiselle" - Hello, miss._

_"Vous êtes très belle" - You are very beautiful._

_"Vous êtes très  fière. J'aime beaucoup la fierté."  - You're very proud. I like that in a woman. (loosely translated, but it works for these purposes.)_

_"Ça coute combien pour une demie heure?" - How much for a half an hour?_

_'Le Chemin de Traverse' is taken from the French translation of the Harry Potter books. It's the French translation for Diagon Alley._

_And if you were wondering, 'La Secte' is French for the Order. Yes, I know - so creative ;)_

_Many thanks to those who've helped me out with getting this thing off the ground – Aggiebell, Lady G, Gaineewop, Aria, and my fabulous beta, Jner. Thank you all, so much!_

_Reviews are greatly appreciated!!_


	2. Midnight Surprises

**A/N 1**_: I should probably put a disclaimer here since I haven't yet. Harry Potter is owned by the wonderful and lovely JK Rowling, Warner Brothers, Bloomsbury, etc. I'm not making a profit off of these words – I'm just playing around with JKR's characters for a while. I promise to give them back all shiny and new when I'm done…_

_*_

**Chapter Two**

***^*^***

**Midnight Surprises**

Ginny sat, curled up like a cat, in an armchair of the living room of the Burrow with a book. She had returned from Paris two days ago, the same day Ron woke up.

Everyone had let out a collective sigh of relief when Ron opened his eyes. Ginny was especially grateful for his recovery, as she didn't think she would handle the loss of a brother very well.  

He was due to return to the Burrow tonight before going back to his home with Hermione tomorrow, but it was almost midnight and neither Ron nor Hermione had shown up yet.

Ginny glanced towards the door, impatient for her brother's return. However, the door remained as still as it had been for the past few hours. Ginny frowned. She had never been the patient kind.

Inadvertently, Ginny's gaze drifted to the sofa opposite her chair and the wizard sitting in it. Well, sleeping in it would be the better term. Harry looked so peaceful when he slept. He looked almost happy, and Ginny knew there were no nightmares causing him pain at the moment.

Resisting the urge to get up and snuggle next to Harry for a little nap of her own, Ginny looked back down at her book. She didn't know why she picked this book up; she wasn't much of a reader. She rarely read for pleasure and usually only picked up a book if she had to. Deep down, she simply didn't trust the damn things. Ginny knew it was a silly fear she had, and that not all books were bad, but she couldn't bring herself to trust them as much as she had in her childhood.

Sighing, Ginny closed the book and set it aside. She wasn't in the mood to read anyway. For lack of anything else to do, Ginny stood up and walked to the kitchen to make some tea.

Removing the tea cosy, Ginny placed the teakettle on the stove. She rather liked making tea the Muggle way because it was therapeutic it its own respect. As she reached for the box of jasmine tea, Ginny heard the sound of a door opening.

Her head whipping around, she listened closely. Sure enough, moments later, she heard the exact voices she had been waiting to hear.

Tea forgotten, Ginny ran into the other room.  She stopped short at the doorframe and watched as Harry welcomed both Ron and Hermione back. They were so strong together. It looked like nothing could hurt them when they were like that. Ginny smiled.

As she caught Hermione's eye, her smile widened and she ran towards them. "Hermione. Ron," Ginny breathed as she hugged each of them in turn.

Ginny stepped back and looked the two of them over. They were holding hands, standing very close to one another and looking slightly flushed. Eyeing them suspiciously, Ginny asked, "All right, you two?"

Ron seemed to flush deeper at that. Hermione grinned, looking somewhat guilty. "We're just happy to be away from the medical wing. I could use some tea, does anybody else want any?"

"I just put the kettle on a moment ago," Ginny said, gesturing towards the kitchen and eyeing Hermione even more suspiciously. That had been a not so subtle change of subject.

"Great," Hermione said. She gave Ron a peck on the cheek and started to walk towards the kitchen.

Ginny looked over at Harry to see if he had noticed anything unusual with Ron and Hermione. However, he looked utterly oblivious to it. In fact, he looked as though he was about to fall asleep right where he was standing.

Stifling a yawn, Harry uttered, "Well, now that you're back, I'm going to go to sleep. It took you long enough to get here, mate. I swear, you have no consideration for others." Harry shot Ron a smirk. "'Night." He glanced at Ginny, making tingles shoot down her spine, much to her chagrin. "Goodnight, Ginny."

"'Night," Ginny breathed at Harry's retreating back.

*

There was a loud knocking on Harry's door, waking him up. "G'way," he muttered at the door. It seemed as though he had just set his head on the pillow. There was no way it was time to get up.

"Harry!" Ron practically yelled, rushing into the room. "Get up, this is important." There was an urgency in Ron's voice, making Harry sit up instantly.

"What happened? Who is it?" Harry asked fearing the worst. If there had been another attack… And he had been _sleeping_, when he could have been doing something to help.

"No, Harry. Nothing like that," Ron replied. Harry noted that the urgency in Ron's voice was accompanied by a great deal of excitement. So this was good news, for once. Ron continued, "Get up and get dressed." He paused to think. "Wear something nice. But be downstairs in five minutes. We have to hurry." With that Ron turned to leave the room.

"Ron, what's going on?" Harry managed to get in before the redhead could reach the door. Harry looked at the clock. "Its three in the morning, can't this wait?"

"No," Ron said at once. "This can't wait another minute. Especially since a lot of people are here. We're doing it tonight. Come on!" And with that, Ron ran out the door leaving Harry in quite a confused state.

"What?" Harry yelled after Ron with no answer. He had lost his head. Two days after waking from that blasted coma and he had gone crazy.

Harry looked around his room sleepily before going to the wardrobe and pulling out some nice looking robes. They had a burn mark on the sleeve, but it was the best Harry had with him. He dressed quickly and went downstairs to find out what the hell Ron was going on about.

When he got to the bottom, he found Ginny looking in a mirror, pulling up her hair. She was wearing a dark green dress that went just past her knees. Very tiny straps held it up. It wasn't the prettiest dress, or the cleanest, but on Ginny it looked amazing.

"Oh, good. You're up," she said looking over at Harry. "They're doing it in the living room."

"Doing what, exactly?" Harry asked cautiously.  

Glancing at him from the corner of her eyes, Ginny explained, "They're getting married."

"_What_? Married?" Harry knew they were planning on getting married eventually, but this didn't make any sense. It was the middle of the night, in the middle of a war. Had they just decided to do this a quarter of an hour earlier?

Ginny stopped fussing with her appearance. It was up in a simple ponytail, her fiery locks just grazing the nape of her neck. The light from a lamp made it seem as though it really was on fire, and Harry found it difficult to tear his eyes from the flames reflected in her hair.  

"That's the plan. I guess with what happened to Hermione the other week, they wanted to do this as quickly as possible." She paused. "And we're here. Neville is too, as is a good portion of my family." Ginny laughed slightly at that, although she looked a bit sad. "As many people as we'll get together at once, I suppose. Plus, there are a few random people. Mum decided to wake everyone in the house for this. Apparently there's no time to get everyone at Grimmauld Place, or she would've gone and got everyone there, no doubt."

Harry smiled grimly. "I thought she wanted them to have a 'proper' wedding?"

"Well, yes. She wasn't happy, at first. They ended up having to promise her a big wedding with a grand reception once this whole thing's all over. Funnily enough, she gave in. I think she's just excited her baby boy's getting married," Ginny finished with a voice that was a perfect imitation of her mother. She rolled her eyes in exasperation and started off towards the living room, the corners of her lips somewhat upturned.

There wasn't a need to explain what 'this whole thing' meant. Harry knew. Everyone knew what 'this thing' was. It was just easier to call it that than to call it what it actually was, a war. Harry forced thoughts about the war out of his head. He wouldn't think about that now. At least not for the next few minutes. Not when his best friends were getting married.

Married. Harry stood next to the mirror Ginny had just been standing in front of, thinking about what his friends were about to do. It was unreal, yet right. It somehow made him feel old. He didn't think he was old enough to have friends who were married.  

"Harry!" a familiar female voice shouted from behind him. Harry spun around to find a very happy looking Hermione. She was wearing a simple off-white dress, her hair was down, and her messy brown curls falling just below her shoulders. She had a silly looking grin plastered on her face. Harry felt he should wish her some sort of congratulations but before he had the chance to say anything, Hermione had flung herself at him and caught him in a tight hug.

"Hey, Hermione," Harry said, slightly shocked. "Er, congratulations."

Hermione pulled away, she was biting her lip slightly. "Thanks. You should go in, we're going to start now."

Harry smiled and nodded, turning towards the living room. However, he didn't get farther than a step. He stopped short when he heard Hermione yelp slightly and he quickly turned to see what was wrong. Yet, as soon as he turned towards her, he wish he hadn't, and quickly looked away. Apparently, Ron had snuck up behind Hermione and had begun nuzzling her neck.

"Ron, you're not supposed to see me now," Hermione chided, turning around to push Ron away. Although, Harry thought, she didn't look like she was trying too hard.

Ron groaned loudly, "But I've already seen you today. I don't want to let you out of my sight."

Harry began walking away again, slightly embarrassed for being witness to what seemed to turning out to be a very private conversation. However, before he was able to take two steps, Harry was stopped by Hermione's protests. "No, Harry. You have to take him away." Ron gave a loud protest at that, only to be told off straight away by Hermione. "Ron, you have to go. It'll just be a moment."

Harry raised his eyebrows at his friend before grabbing his elbow and leading him away.

Five minutes later, Harry stood in the living room next to Ron by the mantle, the makeshift alter. Hermione stood across from Ron, with Ginny standing next to her. Sitting amongst the various chairs strewn about the room were Mrs. Weasley, Bill, Fred, Neville, Terry Boot, and Mundungus Fletcher, as well as two faces Harry recognized, but couldn't remember their names.

Hermione's parents weren't there. Harry knew that upset her, but they couldn't leave their safe house. They had been attacked once and survived. Harry doubted they would survive a second attack.

Harry listened to Hermione and Ron say their vows to each other. They were simple, and not too mushy, thankfully. They were actually somewhat touching, and Harry inadvertently found himself looking at Ginny. After a minute, she seemed to sense his gaze and looked back at him with her twinkling brown eyes.  

Damn it, she was beautiful. He didn't want to think like that, it would only lead to no good. But Harry couldn't help it. She was beautiful. And smart, and brave, and just so damn wonderful.

Harry forced himself to look away as Ron and Hermione touched wands together. Harry could still see Ginny out of the corner of his eyes, but he made himself focus on the couple, who now only had to kiss to cement their bond. Hermione was biting her smile, looking expectantly at Ron, who was looking terrified and thrilled at the same time. They stared at each other with so much love bursting through their eyes, Harry found he had to look away.

 _Was there nowhere safe to look tonight?_

Harry was happy for them, of course, but there was also something else he felt. He was bitter. He knew he was, and he felt ashamed because of it. Harry knew he would never have anything like what Ron and Hermione had. He just knew he wouldn't. He couldn't, for reasons Harry had gone over time and time again in his head. He was too busy with the war effort, and he was most likely going to be killed in the end with Voldemort. It wouldn't be fair to who he fell in love with, if he was able to find that non-existent person in the first place.

_Although_, a voice in the back of Harry's mind tried to remind him, _maybe that person wasn't so non-existent. Maybe that person was closer than he thought_. Harry looked down at his feet, feeling a bit warm in the face. He hastily pushed his glasses up his face, hoping those thoughts would be pushed back too. He told himself once again how unfair it would be to her.  

Harry looked up again when the room burst into applause. It appeared the two had finally kissed. They hastily broke apart at the sound of cheers, both a bit red in the face. Hermione turned to face the gatherers.

"Well, you can go back to sleep now. Sorry we woke you up," she apologized softly.

"Nonsense, nonsense," Mrs. Weasley said, heading towards the newlyweds. She embraced them both. She was smiling, yet beneath the smile was something that seemed almost akin to pity or grief. "First, a toast or two in celebration.  _Accio."_ A tray of assorted tiny goblets filled with a red liquid came flying into the room. "It's not champagne, but it will do."

"Oh, you really don't have to," Hermione replied. Ron simply stood there mutely. He seemed too amazed for words, his eyes glued to Hermione in a shocked silence.

"I won't hear of that," Mrs. Weasley said, passing out the goblets. "Just a few words from the best man and maid of honour at the very least."

*

Harry plopped down on a chair in the empty living room feeling the remnants of the red wine pulse through his veins. Fred had just gone upstairs, leaving Harry as the last 'guest.'

However, just as he closed his eyes to welcome sleep, he heard the stairs creaking, the telltale sign someone had come back down. Harry reopened his eyes to see Ginny re-enter the room, now dressed in pyjamas that consisted of yellow shorts and a blue tank top. On her feet were a pair of blue socks with tiny Snitches flying around them.

"Monty," Harry greeted her.

She smiled and raised her eyebrows. "James." Ginny sat down in the chair next to Harry's. "What are you doing down here?"

"Ron and Hermione are in the room I sleep in. There's no way I'm going back up there tonight," explained Harry, and Ginny laughed. "What about you?"

"Can't sleep," she said, stifling a yawn. She brought her knees to her chest and started rubbing her bare legs as if to warm them up.

"Cold?" Harry asked.

Ginny shrugged

Harry stood up and took off his robe. He had thought to throw on trousers and a shirt earlier, thankfully. He stepped toward Ginny and wrapped the robes tightly around her figure, feeling her gaze fall upon him. He immediately felt a warmth spread from his neck up his face, and he wished he hadn't let himself get so close to her. Yet, he couldn't move away. He fixed his own gaze at a spot just above her shoulder.

The way she looked at him sometimes was intoxicating, and it made it hard to control himself. Out of the corner of his eyes he could tell she was giving him that particular look right now. It was warm and inviting, almost expectant, and bloody irresistible. Harry quickly shut his eyes so he wouldn't have to see it.

He didn't want to feel this way about Ginny; he didn't want to feel this way about anyone. However, with every encounter, Harry found it was becoming more and more difficult to deny his growing passion for this particular redhead.

Harry tried to move away and go back to his the safety of his chair; there he could fall into a slumber and think about Ginny without any consequences. However, he was frozen.  He didn't want to move away, and he didn't.

Gripping her shoulders tightly, Harry inhaled deeply. She smelt amazing, as usual. Like honey. Harry's entire body tensed, unwilling to move away though his brain was screaming that he should return to his own chair, to safety.  

He forced his eyes open, hoping that this would shake him from this trance. However he found he was staring straight into Ginny's deep brown eyes. At her gaze, Harry's body began to relax as a warmth started to flow through him like water. Her eyes were mesmerizing and he felt himself inexplicably drawn towards them, knowing full well that he should stop.  

The problem was, he couldn't.  

Harry, too exhausted to fight what felt so right… so natural, gave in. He felt Ginny shudder slightly as their lips brushed softly against one other. His hands rose and cupped Ginny's chin, pulling her deeper into the kiss. She moaned slightly as Harry opened his mouth and ran his tongue slowly across her top lip.  

He did not object when she pulled him onto the chair with her.

*

Hermione lay on her side next to Ron's sleeping body, watching him. He looked so peaceful when he slept. Especially tonight, with that silly grin still plastered on his face even through sleep. It looked like nothing could touch him.  

Hermione wished he really was that invincible. It would make her life easier, to have that sort of comfort. She knew this could all be over in a heartbeat. They both knew that all too well. It had been a major reason for their getting married two hours ago. They didn't know how long this would last, and they would make the most of it for as long as they could.

Hermione hoped they could make the most of it for a very long time.

The sound of Ron's deep breathing was soothing and Hermione was very content to just watch him sleep. Not just content, but happy. She was lucky to be able to do this. Others were not so lucky, she knew. Hermione let her eyes fall onto Ron's face. She knew that face better than she knew her own. His strong chin. The curve of his lips. His long nose was splashed with freckles, freckles she had memorized long ago, dotted his pale face. She carefully brushed a stray lock of hair from his face, the red glistening in the light of the full moon.

The full moon.  

Hermione looked out the window and thought of Remus, who was now undoubtedly locked away for his transformation. Her heart went out to him, and she desperately wished things could have been different for him. She couldn't even imagine how much he had suffered. And still did suffer.  

Moony, the last Marauder. The only one who hadn't died or betrayed them. 

Professor Lupin, who had helped her so much during the last few years. He had taken all three of them, Harry, Ron and Hermione, under his wing when they joined the Order of the Phoenix. 

Remus, who had become her friend. Remus, who lost his best friend not just once, but twice.

Hermione wanted to scream out against the injustice placed upon that man.

She hadn't wanted to get married during a full moon. She wanted Remus to be there. But she had wanted a lot of people to come to her wedding who hadn't been able to be there.

She sighed and wiped the silent tears from her cheeks. That would have to wait for when this war was won; Hermione refused to believe the outcome could be anything but victorious anymore. She was married to Ron now, which was what mattered. There would be time for celebration later, as now was not the time for such frivolities.

Forcing her eyes away from the glistening window, Hermione looked back down at Ron. Her husband. She shivered at that thought. Her husband. She had trouble believing her own luck sometimes. She had found the only man she knew she would ever love at such an early age. Although it took a very long time before they became romantically involved, once they had, they never looked back.  

She had almost lost him several times, more so in the past few years. And he had almost lost her. She knew in her heart what they had done earlier that night was right. This marriage couldn't have waited another day. Not when either one of them could be gone in a few hours.  

She wrapped her arm around Ron's bare stomach and pulled herself close to his warm body, her head snuggling into the nook of his neck. She felt him move at this sudden tight embrace, one of his calloused hands quickly reaching for her shoulder.

"Hermione," Ron mumbled, sleep entangled in his voice. Hermione couldn't hold back the sob that escaped her. Immediately Ron's grip on her tightened as he asked, concerned, "What's wrong?"

Hermione only tightened her grasp on her husband before whispering, "I love you, Ron."

Ron seemed to tense in confusion momentarily before kissing her forehead gently. "I love you too."

*

Bright. Much too bright.

Ginny eased her eyes open, shielding them with her hands. Her neck hurt. She brought a hand to her neck and let things slowly come into focus.

She was still in the chair she fell asleep in, although Harry was no longer there. She wondered if last night had been a dream.

The sun was just peaking in through the window, directly into her eyes. It must be early. Ginny leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees. Stretching her neck and rubbing her eyes, Ginny listened for any noise to signify she wasn't the only one awake. Seconds later, sure enough, a banging noise emitted from the kitchen. Ginny stretched up and made her way slowly to the door.

"Mum? S'going on?" Ginny mumbled, entering the cluttered kitchen.

"Oh, Ginny, dear. Did I wake you?" Mrs. Weasley asked, fumbling with a used coffee filter.

"No." Ginny glanced over at the clock. "Mum, it's six, what are you doing…" Ginny's eyes noticed their grandfather clock, the one that said what each family member was doing. Harry and Hermione had been added to it four years ago, and presently, Harry's face was under 'travelling.'

"Where'd Harry go?" Ginny interrupted whatever it was her mother had begun to say.

"He didn't say exactly, but he seemed to be in a bit of a rush." Mrs. Weasley sighed, helplessly.  "I did make him take a coffee and toast, though. Here, Ginny."

"Thanks," Ginny accepted the tea her mum had just offered and sat down at the table. So, Harry had left without saying goodbye. Without saying a word about what happened last night. And now he was gone, and she didn't know when she would see him next. Ginny silently cursed him.  

She wanted to talk to him. Why had he suddenly felt the need to kiss her like that? Ginny raised her hand to her slightly sore lips. _What _had that been about? They hadn't done much more than just kiss. Although Ginny was sure that they would have if they had a bit more privacy than the living room at the Burrow. She had felt the way his body reacted to hers, and knew her own body would have readily complied had they been somewhere a bit more private.

Ginny didn't want to think about what would have happened if they had been elsewhere. That would've left her in too much of a confused state, as if she wasn't confused enough.

A sudden knocking at the door broke Ginny away from her thoughts.

"Hello? Is anyone there," came a familiar voice.

"Michael! Come in, come in," Mrs. Weasley said opening the door. "Would you like coffee? Tea?"

Michael Corner shook his head and entered the kitchen. "No, thank you Mrs. Weasley. I'm here officially. I need to talk to Ginny." He turned to face Ginny at that moment. "Oh, good," he said smiling faintly. 

"Michael, hi. You look like hell," Ginny commented as he sat down across from her. There were dark circles under his eyes, and his robes were filthy. He looked as though he hadn't slept in a week.

"Ginny," Mrs. Weasley scolded, wiping her hands on her worn apron.

"Yeah, well. You don't look too great yourself." Michael smiled weakly.

"Thanks," Ginny said sarcastically.

Mrs. Weasley huffed suddenly. "Coriander," she muttered. Ginny must not have heard correctly.

"Mum, what?"

Nodding, and looking quite dejected, her mum grabbed a small basket. "Don't say 'what,' Ginny; its rude. We need some coriander for breakfast," she said, almost to herself. "I'll be out in the garden, Ginny. Michael."

Ginny watched her mother walk out of the kitchen door. Her mum had never taken Ginny's induction into the Order well, and Ginny figured this sudden need for fresh coriander had something to do with that. Usually Mrs. Weasley would find some excuse to not bear witness to Ginny's briefings of her missions. Yet, somehow, she would always know what Ginny was doing, and find a way to fuss incessantly over her. 

Sighing, Ginny took a sip of her tea before looking back up at Michael and getting down to business. "What have you got?"

"I just came from Grimmauld Place. I told them what I know, and we put together a team for this. This is big. Really big. It could bring down Bellatrix and Rudolphus Lestrange, among others," he began. Three years ago, Michael became a Death Eater in an attempt to become a spy for the Order. Within a year, he had gained access to Voldemort's inner circle of Death Eaters. In the past two years Michael aided in the capture of ten Death Eaters in one way or another.

"The Lestranges? Michael! That's brilliant. How?" The Lestranges had been high targets of the Order ever since their escape from Azkaban seven years ago.

"They'll be in a small town in Ayr for a few days. I haven't been able to find out exactly what they'll be doing out there, but I don't think it's anything serious. They'll be staying at a Muggle inn starting tomorrow." Michael looked Ginny in the eye. "This is it, I know it." Michael pulled his wand and started conjuring up several maps.

Ginny thought for a moment. "Why are they staying at a Muggle inn?"  

Looking her grimly in the eye, Michael said, "My guess is that they want to make a holiday out of torturing Muggles. Sick bastards." Michael shuffled through the maps. "Hermione and Ron are here as well, right? They're going to be a part of this raid as well, so they need to listen to this."

Ginny nodded and the importance of this mission struck her like a knife. "They're both upstairs" she said rising from her chair. "Hang on, I'll get them. You won't believe what they did last night."

*

**A/N 2**: _I never planned to write this chapter the way it turned out, but Ron and Hermione gave me little choice. They told me they wouldn't take any more of my crap, and forced me to write their marriage ceremony at wand-point. Who was I to argue?_

_Big thank yous and hugs to Aggiebell, Gaineewop, Lady G, and my lovely beta, Jalyn._

_Reviews are wonderful and so much appreciated! __J_


	3. The Evening Standard

**_Disclaimer: _**_Not mine.  Obviously._

A/N: Sorry for the delay.  RL has taken over my life while I try and finish the last few weeks of my college career. 

**Chapter Three**

***^*^***

**The Evening Standard**

Ginny looked around the pub. Everything was going according to plan thus far; she had made it to her spot in the corner of the pub, undetected and in disguise. Now she just had to wait. Once the Lestranges arrived, she would send a signal back to the rest of the team, and then she would wait to send a second signal giving the go-ahead for the attack.

Why the Lestranges were meeting in a Muggle pub was beyond Ginny.

However, she put that thought aside as she absently turned the page of the latest _Evening Standard_, keeping her eyes glued on the patrons.

"Hello there."

Ginny started and looked up. A tall man with light brown hair was standing next to her. "Er… hi."

The man smiled and sat down at her table. "You're not from around here, are you?"

"I… er…" Ginny was a bit flustered. Who was this? How had he appeared out of nowhere? Was he a Death Eater? Did they know she was here? Was this some sort of trap?

"Oh, its just I've never seen you around here before. Small town like this, one notices new faces." He paused and Ginny noted his hazel eyes. "Especially one as beautiful as yours."

Ginny felt a blush rising on her face. She quickly reminded herself it wasn't really her face, her nose had a glamour on it, and her hair was a different colour. She couldn't talk to this man, whoever he was; she had work to do.

"I'm sorry…" she began, but before she could go further than that he interrupted her.

"I'm Nate." He gave her a dazzling smile. "What's your name?"

Ginny simply sat staring at Nate, trying to decide whether or not it was safe to answer him, or even what name she would give if she did. After a moment's hesitation, she came to a decision. "Name's Mary." She gestured to the Muggle paper in front of her. "If you don't mind, I'm a bit busy."

"Right." He paused and gave Ginny a look that made her tingle all over. Harry had given her a look just like that three nights ago in her living room. The night Ron and Hermione had been married.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small white card and handed it to Ginny. "Listen, we don't get many people around here, and its always nice meeting someone new, like you. Why don't you give me a ring later and I'll show you around the local hotspots… besides this place, of course," he commented, laughing. "My number's on that card, it'd be nice to see you again, Mary." He offered Ginny his hand, which she accepted reluctantly. However, instead of shaking it, he lifted it to his lips. Kissing it gently, he kept his eyes locked on Ginny's.  

"Bye," Ginny muttered as he walked away. She watched him walk over to the bar and greet the elderly barman. He looked back at her and gave her a wink. Ginny looked quickly around the pub. Nobody seemed to have noticed their interaction.

The door of the pub opened and girl of maybe seventeen or eighteen stepped through.  

"Megs!" the elderly barman shouted merrily, gesturing to the girl to come over. "Nate," he continued loudly. "It's your sister's eighteenth birthday, now what do you say to that?" He clapped Nate roughly on the arm.

Nate gave a proud look at Megs as she sat next to him at the bar. "I think she deserves a drink, Paps."

Paps gave a gruff laugh, "I think you might be right. Here y'are, m'dear." He handed Megs a pint.

Megs smiled and leaned across the bar to give Paps a kiss on the cheek. "Thanks, Pappy. Nate."

Ginny's heart swelled at this interlude between the three obvious friends. They seemed happy, and peaceful. Like they didn't have a care in the world. Feeling a twang of jealousy, Ginny tore her eyes away from the trio and towards the door, which opened once again.

The Lestranges glided in, smug looks plastered on their faces. Ginny, hiding behind her paper, pulled her wand to give the first signal.  

*

Ron paced the length of the small wooden room. It wasn't right. Something was wrong, and  here they were, just standing around waiting for a signal that would never bloody come.

The mission had already wound him up.  He had wanted to get the Lestranges ever since he found out they'd been the main components on the attack against the Grangers four years ago.  He didn't need this delay right now. 

"What's going on? Why hasn't she sent the attack signal?" Ron howled, slamming his fist down on the table.

Hermione looked down at her hands, a worried expression painted on her face. "I don't know, Ron." She seemed hesitant, like there was more she wanted to say, but wouldn't. Her eyes darted from the map in front of her on the table, to Ron, to the five other members of their team in the corner.

Ron put his hands flat on the table and took a deep breath. He had to think rationally. He had to be a leader. He couldn't think that his only sister was possibly very much in trouble at that moment. "Do you think maybe they left? The Lestranges?" He looked hopefully at Hermione, but she wouldn't look Ron in the eye. Ron shook his head. No. She would have Apparated back by now if they had left. "This isn't right." He looked imploringly at Hermione, to confirm his suspicions. This time he caught her eye.

 "Something's wrong. It's been too long." Hermione slowly sat down into an old wooden chair. "We should've got the next signal from her by now."  

Ron caught the meaningful glance she sent his way and he nodded gravely. "We go, then." He pointed to their map with his wand. "Apparition point is here, behind the building. Go on my count. Three… two… one." The room suddenly disappeared and a moment later Ron was thrust into the cover of night, a slight rain falling on them. Ron turned around and caught Hermione's hand. He counted the rest of them to make sure they had all arrived.

"Come on." Hermione opened the back door and lead the party inside. They walked down a small corridor in silence, unsure of what they would see in a moment.

They stopped at the second door, the one that led into the pub. Ron dropped Hermione's hand and looked every member of the party in the eye. "Ready with the wands… now." With that, he opened the door and quickly stepped through, making room for the others. He held his wand level with his chest, ready for an attack.

But what they found was a sickeningly bloody mess.

Ron swore, and he heard Hermione gasp behind him. Muggle corpses were strewn around the room. There were several on the floor and three by the bar. There was even one impaled on the hanging lamp above their heads. There wasn't any movement anywhere. Ron walked into the room, towards the bar. There was an old man slumped over the bar, a man about Ron's age sprawled facedown on the floor, a pool of blood around his head, and a woman, perhaps a few years younger, at the foot of the bar. She was facing the ceiling, her face twisted into agony and terror, but there was no blood.  

Cruciatus and then the Killing Curse once they got bored, Ron guessed. Ron forced himself to swallow back the bile that was threatening to rise from his stomach. They were Muggles, with no way of defending themselves against armed Death Eaters.  

"Ginny?" Ron ran forward, towards the corner she would have occupied. Not knowing if he wanted to find Ginny there or not. Yet, all he found was a burning copy of _The Evening Standard_ next to an overturned table.

Ron didn't know what to feel. There was an emptiness filling his stomach.  The hollow sensation made him feel as though there was something festering inside him, as though some rotting vegetable crawling with little white maggots had been shoved into his gut.

Ginny's body wasn't here. They hadn't killed her and left her here. Ron felt relieved at that, but it only lasted a second. If she wasn't here, and she hadn't Apparated back, then where the hell was she? Ron heard footsteps come up behind him. He turned around, wand at the ready.

It was Hermione. She looked a bit green, and her eyes were rapidly filling with tears. "She's not here." She looked around frightfully for a moment. "She might have gotten out, Ron. She knows what to do in situations like this. Maybe she couldn't Apparate out for some reason, she might be just outside…" Hermione suddenly lifted a hand to her mouth.  

Ron turned slowly, numb with the shock. "Alberts," Ron called, his voice cracking. A young member of the Order rushed over to Ron. "Take Branstone. I want you to search the area surrounding this pub for our missing agent. I'll be out there in a minute to help."

"Yes, sir." Alberts turned to grab two of the team.

"Perks," Ron called out. Instantaneously, Perks appeared at Ron's side. "Perks, I need you to go back to headquarters. They need to know what happened here."  A second later Perks had disappeared. Ron walked to the centre of the pub, back towards the bar and a horrified looking Katherine McDonald. "All right?" Ron asked, knowing she probably wasn't.

McDonald swallowed hard and nodded. "I'm fine."

"Good. Towler," Ron called across the room. Once Kenneth Towler made it across the room, Ron continued giving his orders. "I need you two to help Hermione search for survivors.  Can you do that?"

McDonald nodded again, turned and walked towards the nearest bodies. Towler grunted and moved as well. Ron turned and looked back at Hermione just in time to see her rush behind the bar. Ron quickly followed suit, hoping she may have found someone alive. Instead he found Hermione kneeling, retching into a garbage bin. Ron knelt down next to her and put his hand tentatively on her back as the festering feeling in his stomach returned full force.

"I'm fine," she sputtered in an unnaturally high voice. "I'm fine."

*

Harry knocked on the door of number 12 Grimmauld Place. He hated coming here, but he had no choice. He needed to sleep, and the Burrow was off-limits right now. There was no way he could show his face there, not with the chance of meeting Ginny there.

Hearing the door unlock, Harry straightened up a bit. As the door started to open, Harry took a step forward; however, he immediately had to take a step back as Severus Snape came out of the door.

"Watch where you're going, Potter," he sneered.

Harry would have scowled back, but he couldn't summon the energy. Instead he stepped into the door and greeted Lupin. "Remus," Harry nodded curtly.  

"Harry, come in." Remus shut the door and muttered a few locking spells as Harry looked around the foyer. It was still the grim place it had always been, even with all the changes. It was as though the remnants from past tenants remained, although all material traces of them were gone. They had removed the plaques of house elf heads, and after a considerable struggle, they managed to remove the portrait of Sirius' mother by eliminating the entire wall it was hanging on.

"You're just in time for dinner," Remus said, moving away from the door.

"Actually, I think I'd like to just get to sleep." Harry took a step towards the stairs.

"No, Harry. Come eat," Remus instructed, in a way Harry knew something had happened.

"What is it?" Harry asked frantically as they walked. "Who is it?"

But Remus said nothing as they made their way to the kitchen. He said nothing as he sat down at the table. He simply sighed and summoned two bowls of stew for them. Remus' hair was almost completely grey now. There were only hints of brown remaining. His robes were frayed and patched worse than ever.

"Remus," Harry insisted. "Tell me."

"Michael Corner was tortured and killed last night."

Harry swore.

"Voldemort realized he had been a spy. I believe we might have been fed false information as well. The other day Corner gave us information involving the Lestranges. We planned to ambush them tonight at a Muggle pub up north." Remus took a deep breath. "Tonks and Shacklebolt just left to see if they could send out a warning before it was too late."

Harry stared, unblinking at Remus, waiting for him to continue. When he didn't, Harry asked the inevitable question. "Who went?"

Remus looked Harry squarely in the eye as he said what Harry feared he would say. "Ron and Hermione were leading the team. Ginny went as well."

Harry felt his stomach plummet and his chest freeze. "Wha-"

A frantic sounding knock at the door interrupted them. Harry got up and ran. When he was in view of the door he pointed his wand at it and muttered unlocking passwords, and the door was open before he reached it. Harry recognized Sally-Anne Perks rushing in.

"Oh!" she exclaimed seeing Harry. However, she seemed to recover quickly. "There was an ambush," she said hysterically.

"What happened," Harry urged frantically.

"The Lestrange capture fell through. They must have known we were coming. All those Muggles…"

Harry was reaching the limits of his patience. "But, Ron, Hermione. Are they OK?" Harry was too afraid to ask about Ginny.

Sally-Anne nodded enthusiastically. "We're fine, except… We don't exactly know where Ginny Weasley is. They attacked before we got there. She was there first on lookout."

Whatever relief Harry had felt when he found out Ron and Hermione were fine left as soon as Ginny's name was mentioned. His body suddenly seemed to be made of stone. "Where?" Harry managed to ask.

"At a Muggle-"

"No! A map, show me on a map!" he screamed trying to make her understand the urgency needed.

Sally-Anne nodded and pulled out a map from one of her pockets. She quickly unravelled it and spread it out on the floor of the foyer. Pointing to a spot on the map (a small town in south-west Scotland), a three-dimensional image appeared, showing the pub and surrounding area.

After taking a quick glance over the map, Harry sprung up and bolted for the door. He Apparated almost instantly upon breathing fresh air.

A moment later, Harry was standing outside a pub called The Fennymen, a light mist covering his face and glasses.

"Who's there?" he heard a woman's voice ask, sounding startled. Harry looked over and saw someone holding a wand out, looking as though they were ready to attack.

Knowing that he would be hit with a curse if he moved, Harry said as calmly as possible, "Agent Potter."

Harry heard a sigh from the other person. "Wotcher, Harry."

"Tonks," he said, stepping towards the figure. "What's going on? Have you found her?"

Glancing towards the door, Tonks shook her head. "I haven't heard anything. Ask Hermione or Ron, though. They were in charge of this mission, they'll know more than me."

Harry nodded and asked, "Where are they?"

Tripping over the roots of a tall tree next to the pub, Tonks cursed. Raising a hand to the trunk of the tree to steady herself, she answered darkly, "Inside, looking for survivors."

Muttering a 'thank you,' Harry walked past Tonks and entered the pub. He looked around, past the dead bodies, looking for his friends. Seeing one of them, Harry sprinted across to the bar.

"Hermione!" he said, reaching the bar. "Where's Ginny."

Hermione whipped around and stared open-eyed at him. "Harry!" she exclaimed.

Looking at her dead on, he repeated, "Where's Ginny?"

Hermione placed a hand to her lips and made a weird noise. "She's not here," she muttered from behind her hand. "There are people looking for her outside. Ron's outside."

Harry turned to go, but was stopped by a hand grabbing his wrist. Turning back to Hermione, he gave her a quizzical look.  She simply looked him up and down for a moment before speaking.

"Harry, what are you doing here? You look horrible. When was the last time you slept?"

Rolling his eyes, Harry shook his hand from Hermione's grasp. "Why wouldn't I be here?" he said through his teeth. Before she could say anything else, Harry rushed back towards the door and ran outside. 

However, he was hindered once again when he knocked directly into Tonks, making the Auror fall to the ground with an "ooph!"

"All right there, Harry?" she asked from the ground.

He offered his hand to Tonks and pulled her off the ground, grunting as a response. Not wanting to waste any more time, Harry ran off again once she was on her two feet.

He ran across a field and into a patch of wood, looking frantically for a head of red hair.

*

**_A/N: _**_Thank you so much to anyone who's reading this, and to anyone who's reviewed thus far. It means so much to me. Grazie Mille._

_And thank you so very much to the lovely ladies, Lady G, Gaineewop, Aggiebell, and my wonderful beta, Jalyn. Merci Beaucoup._


	4. Imprisonment

**_A/N:_**_ I'm sorry it's been so long since my last update. Real Life showed up for a bit with graduation and family coming to visit. Hope this was worth the wait. :)_

**_A/N II: _**_I've realized that the breakers in this chapter didn't show up during my first upload of the chapter, so hopefully it works now. Sorry for any confusion that caused the first time around._

**_A/N III: _**_And perhaps try number three will work??_

**Chapter Four**

****

**Imprisonment**

Hermione stared into her teacup without really seeing it. They had been sitting in silence for the past hour. Stunned. Uncomprehending.

How could this have happened?

It was Ginny. 

She was gone.

Without a trace. No sign if she was alive or…. No. Ginny was alive. She had to be.

"What do we do?" Hermione hadn't meant to say that out loud, and the sudden sound of her voice startled her. She looked at Ron, then at Harry, and back to Ron. They didn't seem to notice she had said anything.

Harry stood up abruptly and leaned against a wall, his arms crossing in front of his chest. "We find her. We make sure this is top priority for everyone. I want everyone looking for her." He had a fierce determination pouring from his eyes.

Hermione shifted in her chair, not really wanting to disagree with Harry about this. She wanted everyone to look for Ginny as well, but it wasn't very strategic. "I don't think that's the best plan, Harry. This should be known by only a select few-"

"What?" Harry interjected harshly. "What do you mean 'only a select few?' With more people looking for her, the better our chances get in actually finding her."

Hermione frowned. She glanced over at Ron, who was staring down at a knot in the wooden table, completely oblivious to any sort of conversation going on around him. She reached out and grabbled his hand. At her touch, Ron seemed to jerk into consciousness. Hermione looked back at Harry. "I'm not sure if that's the logic we should be going by." 

Harry made a noise of frustration while Ron looked around in confusion and asked, "What?"

"Hermione doesn't think we should be looking for Ginny."

"I never said that," Hermione said harshly. "I simply don't think it would be best to put everyone on that task."

"Well that's sure as hell what it sounded like you were saying. Just forget about her. Just like Bertha Jorkins, huh?" Harry pushed off the wall rather violently and stormed over to a cupboard and pulled out a tall black bottle.

Hermione gave a frustrated sigh. "I don't think this is the best time for Firewhiskey, Harry."

He spun around and shot her a look that could kill. "Would you stop being so bloody patronizing? First we're not looking for Ginny. Then I can't have a few sips of Firewhiskey. Would you stop?"

Hermione felt her eyes widen in shock. 

"Harry," Ron said harshly. He then squeezed Hermione's hand gently before adding, "Grab me a glass too, will you?"

Hermione made a tuting noise. _Boys_.

Harry looked over at Ron and Hermione for a solid minute. Just looking. He then shrugged and grabbed three glasses from a shelf and brought them over to the table. He planted the glasses on the table harshly as he sat down and poured copious amounts into each. He shot one glass over to Ron and one to Hermione before taking a swig of his own.

Hermione furrowed her brow. "I didn't ask for one."

Harry shrugged. He looked at Hermione and Ron and asked heatedly, "What do we do? We have to do something."

Ron stared down at his Firewhiskey with a fierce determination. It looked as though there was a storm raging within Ron, only waiting for an opportunity to let lose. He wrestled his hand from Hermione's as he took a generous sip of his Firewhiskey. If it had been any other situation, she would have warned him not to drink to much.

Hermione sighed. "Its probably a better idea to keep her capture quiet. If we blow this up and out of proportion the en-"

"'Out of proportion!' She's my sister!" Ron stood up and started pacing madly. "You could have a worldwide search, tear down every building and look under every rock and behind every tree and you wouldn't be 'blowing it out of proportion!'" He kicked a chair across the room. One of the legs fell off as it made contact with the wall.

Hermione winced. "I know. That's not what I meant. We just don't want the enemy to know too much about what we're feeling. That way, we keep whatever power we may have. We keep quiet and we plan. Then attack. That's our best option."

Harry took another sip of his amber drink. "So. We just plan in silence, and leave Ginny to those animals? We've been planning for the last seven years! We can't wait another seven to go after her. We have to look for her now!"

"Looking for her is part of the planning," Hermione followed the pacing Ron out of the corner of her eye. "You know how close we are to the end. Its in sight. We know where their headquarters are. We know who the top Death Eaters are. We know a lot in every area except one. Ron!"

Ron stopped his pacing and looked fiercely at her. She chose to ignore the look. It had nothing to do with her; she knew it didn't. It was for Ginny's situation. But it still hurt.

"Ron, come here."

Hermione got up as Ron walked slowly towards her. When he was right next to her, Hermione grabbed his hand. "You're good with strategy. Look over our maps. Find their weaknesses. Form our attack." She kissed Ron quickly on the cheek and watched him walk out the door.

Turning back to the table, she found Harry absolutely fixated on his glass of Firewhiskey. "You and I have to brainstorm. Are Remus and Moira here?"

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Harry sat on the floor in the corner of their study at Grimmauld Place. He had a book open on his lap, but he wasn't looking at it. He was following the other three people in the room with his eyes. Just watching them and trying to shove the reality of the situation to the back of his brain.

Hermione was sitting at the desk swimming furiously through thousand page books and handwritten notes. Remus was at the desk as well, writing furiously on a piece of parchment. Moira was in another corner of the room, going through old notes.

It was probably around four in the morning, and they had been working for hours with little success. Harry sighed, and threw the book on his lap to the side. There wasn't anything in there three months ago, there wouldn't be anything in there now.

He wanted, no… needed to do something more than this.

Suddenly, Moira roared out a sound of frustration. "This! I don't understand…" She glanced over at Harry, and then back down at the parchment in front of her. "There must _be _something here. I know it."

"What?" Hermione urged.

Moira shook her notes in aggravation and screeched out, "This!" She looked furtively at Remus, and then walked over to Harry and threw the notes in front of him.

Harry glanced down at them and instantly felt himself close off. These were the notes on the battle at the Ministry of Magic at the end of his Fifth Year.

"Its not complete," Moira accused. "There's something missing, there must be."

Harry set his jaw and stared straight ahead. The only person who had known all the details of that night was Dumbledore, and he had died only weeks into his seventh year.  Harry had never told anyone else, and had conveniently left some of the more difficult memories out of the notes he had helped compile years ago.

Moira started pacing. "Voldemort possessed you. But why did he leave your body when he could have killed you then, easily. There's no explanation there," she motioned to the notes. "Don't you remember anything? Anything at all about that?"

Harry remembered. He remembered everything about that night in detail. From Umbridge's office, to the way that veil blew in the non-existent breeze. He remembered the feeling as though he had died when Voldemort had possessed him. And he remembered Sirius….

Harry mentioned none of that now. He stood up and walked towards the door.

"Harry," Hermione said.

"What?" he spat back.

Hermione looked tentatively at Remus and Moira before turning back to Harry. "You have to tell us. We need to know."

"Why?" he snapped back venomously.

"Well," Hermione began cautiously. "If we know why he wasn't able to stay in your body, it will help us figure out a big part of the puzzle." Lowering her voice, as though attempting to make it so Harry was the only one who could hear, Hermione added, "It may help us find Ginny."

That was what did it. Harry froze. He glared at Hermione, who had the decency to look sheepish.

Feeling a burning rushing through his body, Harry punched the wall. Feeling satisfied by the pain vibrating up his arm, Harry slumped to the floor. He didn't want to tell them, but he would do anything to help Ginny.

Breathing heavily he began, "My head felt as though it was splitting open. I knew I was dying. I wanted to die to stop the pain." Harry clamped his eyes shut, unwilling to let the others see the glistening tears that had formed and were threatening to fall. He could feel them in the crevasse between his eyelids, gathering and threatening to fall in spite of him.

"I knew that if I died, I would see Sirius again. That thought brought a warmth. An instant later, Voldemort was gone, and I was still alive. That's what's not in there," Harry finished, gesturing at the papers in Moira's hands.

The room stilled into a silence so thick, it could almost be seen. Harry waited for someone to say something, anything.

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Pain.

Everywhere pain.

Ginny tried to open her eyes, but found she could not; or if she had, it had made no difference. She tried to think where she was, remember what had happened, but her mind was blank; she had no recollection of her apparent capture. The last thing she remembered was a feeling of dread before everything went black.

The only thing that registered now was pain, which meant she was in trouble.

However, Ginny forced the anguish down. She had to survive, and to do that she must assess her situation and surroundings. That was one of the first things she learned when she became a member of the Order of the Phoenix. She placed her hands on the floor. Cold. Stone. She was in a dungeon. Perhaps a castle? Or a prison? Ginny felt around for a wall, but found none in the immediate area.

She willed her body to move, and she crawled across the floor, hands groping for something other than the icy stone floor, her eyes still of no use.

Ginny strained her ears for any noise, but found only a deafening silence. She was alone. She couldn't hear any other breathing. There wasn't even the scurrying of rats nearby.

Where the hell was she?

She forced herself forward despite the immense pain enveloping her entire right side. She had to see how big her cell wa-

Her body was suddenly stabbed with a new pain, and she was thrown back in an explosion of light and her own screams. It was as though a thousand swords had been plunged into her flesh at once.

She lay on the floor, gasping for air and willing herself to remain conscious.

There were wards surrounding her. Magical wards confining her even more so than the door-less grey cell she had managed to glimpse through the pain and flash of light. There seemed to be a few windows up by the tall ceiling, but there was no way to get to them with the wards in place.  There was no evident escape for her.

This was not good.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't Little Weasel."

Ginny's breath escaped her and she froze. The torches that were hung on the wall were suddenly lit, casting an eerie shadow over her cell. She knew that voice. The slow overconfident drawl. She hadn't heard it in years, but it was undeniable to whom the voice belonged. Ginny slowly turned around and the familiar sneer came into view.

Draco Malfoy.

"Fancy meeting you here," he sneered.

Standing up, Ginny gave the blond a fierce look. "What do you want, Malfoy?"

"Now, Weasley, is that anyway to treat your guard?"

"Guard?" Ginny asked weakly.

Malfoy laughed, and his sneer grew into a look of horrid delight. "That's right. You're mine now. Potter can't get you here. You'll do well to remember that."

Ginny scowled at him. "You're a bastard."****

"You'll shut your mouth if you know what's good for you." Malfoy was glaring daggers at Ginny.

But Ginny would not heed his threats. Even if she was in a weaker position here, she wouldn't let Malfoy get the best of her. "You're a coward. You do whatever your father tells you to do. You're a brainless, spineless-"

"SHUT UP!" Malfoy had lost it. His cool façade was dropped and his hideousness was for a moment visible on his pale, pointy face.

Ginny stared at him, and a feeling she had never felt towards a Malfoy arose in her stomach. It was so strange it took a moment to realize what the feeling was. Pity.

"You don't know a thing about anything, Weasley. You don't know my family, or what my father's like." Malfoy's eyes flashed with what was unmistakeable resentment. "You don't know my father, or what I went through…" There was an intense pleading look on his face, startling Ginny profusely. "Don't talk about things you know nothing about."

A second later, however, he seemed to realize what he was giving away, and the cool façade was back.

Ginny was speechless as she saw Draco Malfoy for what he really was: a victim. He was a victim of the war as well as a victim of his family.

Suddenly, there was a question Ginny had to ask. "Why are you down here? There's no way for me to escape. I don't need a minder. What do you want?"

Malfoy's façade threatened to dissolve again, but he caught himself in time, his usual sneer deepening on his face. "What the Dark Lord commands is none of your concern."

They stared each other down. He was trying to gain the upper hand again. He lost it, and now he was trying to get it back. But Ginny was resolute. She wouldn't be the first to back away from this unsaid challenge. She had somehow gained the advantage and she wouldn't let go. 

"If you think you're intimidating me, you're damned wrong," Ginny said softly, yet strongly.

Draco looked irritated. "Oh, really? _Crucio_."

Ginny fell to all fours in excruciating pain.

Draco laughed mirthlessly. "I've got the wand here. I think you'll do whatever I want."

Panting on the floor, Ginny felt a sudden breeze fly through the cell. She looked up, wondering what Malfoy was up to. However, what she saw made her lose all balance. Ginny's arms buckled and she fell to the floor. She looked up again, tentatively, unable to believe what she was seeing. It was _him_.

Draco bowed. "My Lord."

In a voice so different from the one Ginny was used to, he demanded, "What are you doing down here?"

In a voice that sounded almost sheepish, Draco spoke, "Minding the prisoner, my Lord."

There was a long pause as he looked Malfoy up and down and Ginny was struck with how much _he _had changed, yet how he was still the same. His voice was different, so were his eyes. He was taller and no longer in his Hogwarts robes, but he was still Tom.

"Go back to your post," Tom commanded. "You can watch her from there just as easily. I'll deal with you later."

Draco sent a strange look towards Ginny before he bowed again. "My Lord." He walked over to a wall and touched some sort of black orb. A moment later, he was gone.

Ginny looked back over at Tom, whose red eyes were now staring her down. Ginny felt disconcerted by his scrutiny and wished he would stop. She suddenly felt eleven all over again.

"You're the Weasley girl," he stated, his voice devoid of emotion. "I've heard about your past. You have been broken before. You will be easy to break again."

Ginny said the only thing that she could at the moment. "Tom."

"What did you say?" he hissed.

To stunned to do anything else, Ginny repeated, "Tom."

"_Crucio_. Tom is dead." Tom walked towards Ginny, stopping just shy of the magical wards. "Tell me what you know."

Recovering from the pain of the spell, Ginny looked up at Tom, and didn't say anything. She got to her feet weakly and stared defiantly. He may have gotten to her once, but now she was older, and knew better. He couldn't touch her anymore.

Tom lifted his wand. "Little girl, you tell me what you know and no more harm will come to you."

"Liar," Ginny whispered. She knew what he was doing. She knew what he was. 

"_Crucio_," Tom spat and Ginny fell to the floor again. "Did that hurt? Do you want me to stop? Beg me to stop. I want to hear you beg. Tell me what you know."

Ginny stared at the floor in front of her face, breathing heavily. "I know nothing."

"_Crucio. _Tell me."

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"Love," Hermione muttered, scribbling away on a piece of parchment. "Its so simple, so profound. Of course. How could I not see this earlier?"

Harry was pacing the floor, remotely listening to Hermione's mutterings and Remus' breathing. Moira had gone down to the kitchen to make tea a quarter of an hour ago, and had not returned since.

Harry was in pain. With every second that passed by, he thought of Ginny and what she was going through, if she was still alive even.

Hermione slammed her quill down and buried her head in her hands. "Of course. It's the opposite of everything he stands for…"

The door squeaked open and three heads snapped up. Ron cleared his throat and entered the room carrying a tray of tea and biscuits.

"Where's Moira?" Harry snapped, suddenly untrusting.

After placing the tray on the desk, Ron took a place behind Hermione, resting his hands on her shoulders. Harry's heart constricted.

"I found her and Charlie in a deep conversation in the kitchen with this tray sitting untouched next to them. I don't think they even noticed I was there."

"What's Charlie doing here?" Harry asked concerned. If there was an international crisis to go with this, he didn't think he could handle it.

"Why do you think?" Ron shot him a glance. "He's here to help find Ginny." By the way Ron's hands were moving and how Hermione's eyes had closed, Harry could tell he was giving her a good massage. He turned away and picked up a book.

"How are things going up here?" Ron asked.

Hermione made a grunting sound. "Good. Well. I think we've found the key element in the equation."

Harry glanced at the couple, and saw that Ron's eyes had widened. "What?" he asked.

Sighing, Hermione smiled. "Love," she breathed. "Only, we need to figure out how to harness it into some sort of spell."

"Okay," Ron nodded, looking as though he was going into a deep thinking process.

Harry closed the book in his hands and tossed it onto the top of the nearest pile of books. In a low voice, Harry reminded Hermione, "I can't use my wand against him. A spell won't work."

Hermione waved a hand, and a feeling of irritation rose in Harry. "Technicalities," she muttered. "We have the basic formation. We'll build from there."

Harry grabbed a biscuit and shoved it into his mouth. "Let's start now, then," he managed through the crumbs. "I can't use my wand against him, but I have to use a spell against him. How is that going to work, Hermione?"

"Harry," Remus interrupted. "She's right. That's a technicality we can work out while we develop our ideas."

"So!" Harry yelled. "What are we waiting for? Ginny to die? Let's develop!"

Hermione's eyes snapped open, and Ron's hands dropped to his sides.

"How am I supposed to use love against Voldemort if he's not possessing me? It used to be through my skin, but that option's out. And I really don't want to be possessed again." Harry was panting now.

Hermione rose from her chair and started pacing the floor. "The way I see it, there are two potential possibilities. There's the Patronus charm. That's not used directly on a Dementor, it creates this other entity that then goes and battles the Dementor. A Patronus is a manifestation of joy and happiness. We may be able to create something similar, resulting in a manifestation of love.

"The other is the cheering charm. Unlike the Patronus, it creates a direct result on the thing you cast it on. There's no separate entity. We can alter that so instead of cheering the other, it would fill them with love. The problem with this method is, of course, Priori Incantatem. Because it would be used directly on Voldemort, that could be a problem, while with the Patronus charm, that wouldn't be an issue."

Hermione continued to pace the floor, all eyes glued to her.

"However… if…" Hermione continued, her brow furrowing deeply. "If there was a way to find a combination between the two, or a middle ground…" Letting out a sound of frustration, Hermione flopped back down in her chair and opened a book.

Harry caught Ron's eye and jerked his head meaningfully. After a quick glance at his wife, Ron walked over and joined Harry in a corner of the room.

"How's the plan of attack coming along?" Harry asked quietly, not wanting to break Hermione's concentration.

Ron nodded. "Good. Its  almost planned. I just need this part worked out to finish it."

"I want to see it," Harry said resolutely. "I want to know everything about it."

Gesturing towards the door, Ron said, "Downstairs. I'll show you."

As the two friends walked towards the door, they were suddenly stopped by Hermione's voice. "Harry, don't you leave. Not now. You're needed up here for this," Hermione said, pointing meaningfully at the notes on the desk.

"I'm not leaving. I'm going downstairs," Harry said through his teeth. As though he would leave at a time like this.

Hermione tutted. "Don't even leave the room, Harry."

Groaning, Harry turned back to Ron and gave him a meaningful look.

"I'll bring 'em up here," the redhead whispered and walked towards the door. However, upon opening it, someone else rushed in, looking a little flushed.

Moira shot Harry a sheepish smile. "Did I miss anything?" she asked innocently making Harry roll his eyes.

Harry looked at the tray in Moira's hands.  There were several goblets resting on it.

"What is that?" he asked harshly.

Moira glanced over at Remus.

"It's a Sleeping Drought," Remus said, not even looking up from his book.  "We all need to get sleep tonight."

"Remus!" Hermione exclaimed, aghast.  "I can't go to sleep now.  Not when we're so close."

Remus gave her a stern glance.  "You'll drink it in a half an hour, after you've organised your notes.  You need your sleep."

Hermione made a tutting noise.

"You'll be more alert after a good sleep," Remus continued, meeting Harry's eye.

Harry nodded.  He wasn't going to fight this like Remus thought he would.  Harry knew he needed the sleep badly, and the only way he was likely to get it would be through a Sleeping Potion.

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Ginny rolled over in her cell and opened her eyes. It was dark again, meaning she was alone.

She let out a sigh of half-relief, and winced at the pain that small action caused in her body.

The last thing she remembered was a blinding light of pain and mocking laughter before she passed out.

Curling up in the foetal position, Ginny ignored the pain coursing through her body. It was getting easier to do that, ignore the aching. Yet it was still next to unbearable. Ginny closed her eyes and wished for freedom. Or death. Either one would be welcome at this point.

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_A/N: Many, many thanks to my wonderful beta, Jner.  And, thank you so much to Lady G and Aggiebell.  You ladies are keeping me interested in finishing this._


	5. Reliving the Past

**_Disclaimer: _**_Obviously this all belongs to JKR, Bloomsbury, Scholastic, Warner Bros. I'm just a lost graduate, doing this for my own amusement and do not intend to reap any profit from this whasoever._

**Chapter Five**

****

**Reliving the Past**

Ron, holding Hermione's hand, entered the kitchen at Number Twelve Grimmauld Place and looked around at those gathered. There wasn't a spare seat, in fact there were many people left standing. Ron glanced at the familiar faces surrounding him grimly. They were all here for a very important reason.

They would all be briefed on what would probably turn out to be the most important battle of the war. This would be the battle that dictated who would take the upper hand. It had the potential to be the turning point for them, if not the battle that clinched the victory of the entire war.

Needless to say, everyone in the kitchen knew all of this. No one spoke a word. They all looked expectantly at Ron, and he knew they were waiting for him to speak.

Clearing his throat, Ron pulled out several maps and his wand. "You all know why we're here today," he started in a strong voice. "We are going to infiltrate Voldemort's headquarters."

Ron paused and his eyes circled the room, noting the looks of nervousness etched on some peoples' faces. He couldn't blame them, he was terrified, himself.

"We won't be going into this alone," Ron continued. "We'll have assistance from some of our international affiliates. Mainly from the La Secte, from France, and a few groups from Romania and Egypt. Parvati Patil is here as our liaison from the La Secte." Ron nodded towards Parvati, who was sitting on the floor next to a tall, skinny man, who had his arm around her shoulders.

"Parvati, when can we expect the members from La Secte?" Hermione asked.

Glancing at the man next to her, Parvati answered, "They'll be here within the hour."

"Good," Ron said shortly. "I trust you'll be able to brief them about the attack?"

Parvati nodded, and Ron turned to Bill and Charlie. "And you two will be able to handle those coming from Egypt and Romania?"

After getting a nod out of both his eldest brothers, Ron continued the briefing.

"We have three goals for this attack. One, rescue any and all of the prisoners being held here. We know there are several prisoners held captive here, including Miss Ginny Weasley. We need to get them all back tonight. This will be the priority.

"Second, capture Death Eaters. We are invading their headquarters, and we will thus have our hands pretty full with this task. If at all possible, try to bring them in alive.

"Third, and lastly, bring down Voldemort. That task is in the hands of one of our members. I expect every one of you to be prepared to help this person achieve this goal to any end," Ron finished darkly, shooting a look of apology towards Harry. He knew his friend wouldn't appreciate that last remark, but it had to be said. Sure enough, Harry was glaring at him.

"We'll be attacking their weakest point, here," he said, pointing to a spot on the map. "We'll come up through the ground into this hall. They won't know what hit them."

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

There had been a loud bang in the distance some time ago, but it hardly registered with Ginny, she had grown numb to her surroundings. Curling up in the centre of her cell, she rested her head against the cold floor. Her left hand had taken to drawing formless shapes on the stone floor. The floor was rough on her fingers, but Ginny didn't mind. In fact she welcomed the discomfort; it was distracting.

She had lost count of how long she had been in this place. Days? Months? Mere hours? No light ever came in through her windows to help determine this aspect. Time had lost all meaning in this place.

In order to keep her sanity, Ginny had forced thoughts of what was happening to her back to the furthest corners of her mind. Instead, she thought about happier times, few as there were. Ron and Hermione. Their wedding. It had been thrown together quickly, but it had been joyous. Ginny thought back to her childhood, before Hogwarts, before Voldemort. Back when life was simple and she hadn't known pain beyond sibling teasing.

Yet, on the other hand, that had also been a time before Harry.

Harry. She thought about Harry the most. From the boy he had been in Hogwarts, where she had first met him, to the man he had become since he had left school. She thought of the kiss they'd shared in the alleyway, while they were being chased by Death Eaters. She thought of the way he looked when she awoke in the Chamber of Secrets.

Ginny shuddered violently at that thought. This place felt like the Chamber of Secrets. It had the same kind of air to it. It felt cold. And dead. She felt as though she was dying, as though she was slowly wasting away. It felt as though Tom was back, taking her life away so he could live.

Harry had saved her then, and she hoped in a way she knew was silly and childish, that he would come to her rescue again.

Ginny shut her eyes tightly and told herself not to get her hopes up like that. Harry didn't know where she was. Hell, she didn't know where she was.

_But that hadn't stopped him from coming to the Chamber of Secrets_, a voice in the back of her brain reminded Ginny.

Ginny gave out a dry sob. She wanted Harry. She wanted to be with Harry now. Away from this place. She wanted the night of Ron and Hermione's wedding back. She wanted him to touch her like that again and for always. She wanted to touch him back. She wanted him to look at her the way he had that night. There had been a fierceness in his eyes, a look of want, desire, and admiration. It had stunned Ginny to see such openness in his eyes; he was usually so guarded with his emotions.

Then he had left without so much as one word. That had been the last time Ginny had seen him.

Ginny pressed her fingers more roughly into the stone floor as silent, unwanted tears flowed from her eyes, creating a small pool just beside her face.****

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Harry ran down the stone corridor. Panting, he came to a stop where the corridor split into two directions. He knew she was here… somewhere. It was just a matter of finding out where. Yet he had been frantically searching for over an hour now, and he was starting to doubt his senses.

Looking down either direction, Harry swore. One sloped downwards, while the other went up and to the right. One of these had to lead to Ginny, but which one?  Harry stared into one and then the other for a moment. Something in his gut told him to take the one to his left, leading down. So, with one last wayward look into the path leading right, Harry took the left corridor, leading down farther into the depths of Voldemort's headquarters.

It was cold, and Harry's nose and ears stung as though they were being bitten while he ran down the stone corridor. The air was heavier down here; it was thicker. Harry thought he was probably near the dungeons, where Voldemort killed and tortured his victims. A violent rage rose up in Harry's gut. He wanted to kill Voldemort. He deserved to die.

It would be over soon; Harry would find Voldemort tonight and prevent any more of this horror. 

However, first he had to find Ginny.

Harry strained his eyes to see through the dark. He instinctively raised his hand to straighten his glasses, but to no avail. The dark was thick, and unnerving. Harry wanted to use _Lumos_, but thought better of it. It would be safest in the dark, undetected by Voldemort or his minions.

Harry stopped short as he heard someone cry out. It hadn't been Ginny--Harry knew that immediately--but he strained his ears for another sound. After a tense minute, another cry from the same person pierced the silence. It was a woman and she was in pain. She was close by; she sounded as though she was just on the other side of the wall to Harry's right.

Sticking his right hand out, Harry searched for the wall. He pushed against the cold, damp stone as another cry rang out. Harry winced. The voice sounded familiar, and he tried to place it. He heard muffled sounds through the wall. They were from different people, but Harry couldn't place how many people, or if it included that same woman he had heard screaming.

However, before Harry could try and decipher any more, a voice rang out behind him. "_Crucio_!"

Harry's legs buckled, and he fell to the floor writhing in pain. He couldn't think of anything but the pain stabbing at his body unmercifully. He heard a man screaming distantly, and it barely registered that it was probably his own voice. There was only pain.

And just as suddenly as the pain had started, it had stopped, and Harry lay panting in a huddled mess. How could he have been so stupid? He had turned his back so that anyone could sneak up on him. Shaking, Harry slowly got to his feet and turned to face his attacker.

But all he saw was darkness.

 "_Lumos_," Harry muttered. A tall figure appeared before Harry, his red eyes shining out under his hooded cloak.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Hermione opened the wooden door in front of her. It was heavy, but it didn't squeak, and Hermione slide soundlessly into the deserted room. It was large, with a tall ceiling. There was one window on the opposite wall letting in the distinctive light that went with twilight on the brink of a storm. Hermione walked towards the centre of the oval space, towards a small dais of some sort. She tightened her fingers around her wand, ready for any surprises.

Upon the dais was a marble stand holding up a silvery sphere. On closer inspection, Hermione noticed that the silver looked to be swirling within the orb, like clouds almost. Hermione glanced around the room to make sure she was alone. Satisfied that she was the only one in the room, she stepped up to the dais to get an even closer look.

There was something about the orb that entranced Hermione. Something she couldn't quite put her finger on. She knew part of it was her curiosity of the object, but there was something else luring her to the orb. She felt an overwhelming urge to reach out and touch it. There was probably something about the magical configurations of it that naturally attracted people to its silvery glow, thought Hermione, entranced. She made a mental note to try and figure out what this was when she got out of here as she shook her head to wake her from the trance.

Just before she could turn around, however, the silver clouds within the orb began to part, and Hermione's eyes were drawn to the image appearing before her. In the orb was a person: a woman, curled up on the floor. Hermione couldn't see her face, but there was something familiar about her. Intrigued Hermione pulled her face closer to the orb as lightning flashed outside of the lone window, reflecting in the orb's glassy depths.

Hermione started as she realised that this was an image of the present. The flash of light showed Hermione something she was both fearing and hoping; the woman had red hair. Hermione had found Ginny.

Panting, Hermione raised a hand to cover her open mouth. She had to find out where that room was; she had to get there. Looking frantically around the room, Hermione hoped to spot a map, or anything that would help her; however, the room seemed devoid of anything except the dais she stood upon.

A thought suddenly came to Hermione, and she reached out her hand to the sphere. She knew she shouldn't touch things that she didn't know anything about, but this was an emergency. Besides, Harry told her how, with Pensieves when you touch them, they bring you to the place they're showing. Perhaps this would be similar.

She tentatively reached out to the orb. As her hand came into contact with it, Hermione's first thought was how it felt unusually warm. She had expected it to be cold.

However, her next thought was quiet different. She had been prepared to be transported to where Ginny was, but to her shock, nothing at all happened. She remained in the oval room, standing on the dais with her hand on the silver sphere.

Hermione stared at her hand thinking how stupid she had been and was just about to remove it when it began to happen. A warm wind started to flow around Hermione--a wind that seemed to be emanating from the orb itself. Hermione tried to remove her hand from the orb, but found she couldn't. It seemed to be stuck, as though glued to its surface.

The wind blew more violently with every passing second, as the orb grew warmer until it was almost unbearable to touch. Hermione started to frantically pulling at her left hand with her right, her wand clumsily entwined between her fingers.

Just as she thought things couldn't possibly be worse, Hermione felt the wind pull her towards the sphere. She tried to resist and pushed against the wind, but her attempts were useless. The wind was much too strong and it pulled her forward. She felt her feet lift off of the ground as her body was sucked in.

A moment later, Hermione found herself on her hands and knees. The winds had stopped abruptly, and it had got colder. Hermione quickly got to her feet and realized she was no longer in the oval room anymore, but instead in a square one with three small windows high up. A few torches hanging on the walls were the only source of light in the room. In the centre of the room lay the figure Hermione had seen in the silver orb.

"Ginny!" Hermione rushed forward.

Ginny bolted up into a sitting position and stared shocked at Hermione for a moment before screaming, "No! Hermione, stop!"

Hermione froze mid-step. "Ginny, what? Oh, are you all right?" It was a stupid thing to ask, but she had to inquire.

Ginny stared, wide-eyed and unblinking at Hermione. "Don't come any closer. There are these wards surrounding me. You can't get through them."

Hermione bit her lip and thought for a moment. "Where are they?"

"About a meter from where you are now. It seems to be in a circle around me. They walk around me, but never come too close. They don't want to be hit by the wards." Ginny hugged her knees.

"Who are 'they,' Ginny" Hermione asked terrified of the answer.

Ginny looked at the floor. Hermione noticed the fingers on Ginny's left hand seemed to be oozing a red liquid. "Death Eaters. Mostly Malfoy." She swallowed hard. "And… Tom."

Tom? Hermione thought for a moment if she knew anyone by that name. "Tom? Ginny, I don't kn…" Hermione gasped as she realised who "Tom" was. "You mean, Voldemort?"

Ginny nodded weakly.

Hermione bit her lip. She knew Voldemort would be around and she couldn't dwell on that now. Pushing that to the back of her mind, Hermione concentrated on more pressing matters. "What happens if you come in contact with the wards?"

"You get thrown back," Ginny replied dryly.

Hermione shook her head in frustration. "No, I need specifics. I need you to tell me exactly what happens. How far do you get thrown back, if it sparks or not when you touch it? You also need to tell me what it feels like." She counted this small list off on her fingers as she spoke.

Ginny stared with a look of incomprehension at Hermione for a moment before starting slowly. "Well, I got thrown back to about there." Ginny pointed to a spot about three and a half meters from where Hermione was standing. "And there was a flash of light. It lit up the entire room." Ginny hesitated. "And it hurt."

"What colour was the light?" Hermione prodded.

"Er…" Ginny squeezed her eyes shut as if trying to pull up an image of the light. "Yellow?"

"Ginny, are you sure? I need to know exactly."

She opened her eyes and looked at Hermione directly. "I'm sure," she said more confidently.

"All right." Hermione took a deep breath. She knew Ginny wouldn't want to answer her next question, and Hermione didn't particularly want to ask it. However, it needed to be answered. "Can you be more specific about what it felt like?"

Ginny winced visibly at this demand. She looked up at the ceiling, towards the three windows. "It was like the Cruciatus."

Hermione gasped. Of course Voldemort would use something as horrible as the Cruciatus for his wards.

"That should be enough to figure it out," Hermione muttered. She started to pace, being careful not to get too close to where Ginny said the wards were in place. If she could figure out the basic Arithmantic equation for the wards, she could do something about them.

_Yellow. Cruciatus. Two point five meters. The Cruciatus hints that it's physically and elementally based. It was causing a yellow light. That's interesting. It should result in a murky brown colour, but since its yellow that must mean… Yes, of course!_

"What are you doing here, Granger?" spat a voice.

Hermione spun around and pointed her wand at the intruder. "Malfoy! What do you want?"

Malfoy only sneered. "I think I'll be the one asking the questions here, Mudblood. Lower your wand, if you know what's good for you." 

Hermione suddenly realized he had his wand pointed straight at her. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Ginny clutching her throat. Malfoy must have put a silencing charm on her when he'd first arrived so Ginny couldn't warn Hermione. But how could Hermione not have heard Malfoy say the spell? Had she really been that wrapped up in her thoughts?

Giving him a defiant look, Hermione kept her wand at the ready. She could out-duel Malfoy in a heartbeat; she wasn't about to take orders from him. "Lower your own wand, Malfoy."

Malfoy only sneered. "I think not."

He really didn't know whom he was dealing with. "_Expelliarmus_!" Hermione yelled. However, to her astonishment, her spell didn't reach Malfoy. It was almost as though it bounced of a wall about a foot away from him and shot back towards Hermione. Before she had a chance to duck, the spell hit her and she felt her wand tear out of her hands. Hermione's stomach plummeted. He had set up a ward of his own. From the looks of it, however, it would be down after the first spell hit it. A lot of good that did her now that she didn't have her wand.

Malfoy laughed outright. "I call that the home turf advantage."

Hermione's eyes searched for her wand. Then she spotted it. Her wand at least hadn't gone to Malfoy, nor had it gone into the magical wards surrounding Ginny. It was a few meters away from her, next to the stone wall on Hermione's left. She had to get to it.

"Not so powerful without a wand, Mudblood?" Hate was pouring out through Malfoy's voice. "Can't do anything but stand there?" He laughed mirthlessly. His pale eyes shot through Hermione like daggers. Malfoy opened his mouth and spat, "_Crucio_."

Hermione fell to the floor in agony. She was screaming, but was only vaguely aware of that. There was nothing but pain.

"Enjoy that, Mudblood?" Malfoy sneered as he pulled the curse off. "Would you like some more or have you had enough? Tell me how you got here. Come to join your Mudblood-loving friend, have you? The Dark Lord always appreciates new toys, especially ones with such assets and as much information to give as you have."

Hermione looked up at Malfoy and spat, "You're sick. Mad. If you think for one minute we're going to be staying here…"

"Shut it, Granger. _Crucio_."

Hermione screamed in agony once again. When Malfoy took the curse off of her, Hermione remained, panting, on the stone floor. As soon as she was able to think somewhat clearly, she rolled to her left, determined to get to her wand. Her muscles hurt, but that didn't matter now. All that mattered was getting her wand so she could defend herself. And Ginny.

"Hermione, watch out!" Ginny screamed. She must have broken through the silencing charm somehow.

_"Crucio_," Malfoy screamed out again, and the curse hit Hermione for a third time. "Weasley, haven't you learned your lesson yet?"

"Malfoy, you cowardly bastard! I'll kill you with my bare hands!" Ginny sounded furious.

Hermione crawled towards her wand as inconspicuously as she could. She was almost there. Just a bit further.

Malfoy sneered. "Why don't you walk over here and try, Weasel?"

Hermione's hand grasped her wand and she turned and muttered what she hoped was the spell to bring down the magical wards surrounding Ginny. Catching Ginny's eye, Hermione nodded.

"Gladly," Ginny said simply, as she started walking briskly towards Malfoy.

Hermione sat, leaning against the wall trying to catch her breath and willed herself to get up and help Ginny. The effects of the Cruciatus were powerful.

Malfoy stood there; stupidly sneering for a moment before he realized Ginny had gone past where the wards had been. He stumbled backwards, looking terrified. "_Fractus_," he yelled frantically just as Hermione yelled, "_Expelliarmus_."

Ginny fell to the ground, clutching at her left ankle as Malfoy's wand flew out of his hand and landed next to Hermione.

From behind the wall Hermione was leaning against, someone cried out in agony. For a moment all three of them looked at the wall in surprise. However, Hermione recovered quickly and muttered a spell causing ropes to spring from her wand and tighten around Malfoy.

"Filthy Mudblood! Let me out of these now, or you'll live to regret this." Malfoy thrashed around the ground in a very undignified manner. "My father won't stand for this."

Hermione rolled her eyes at his unbelievable arrogance. "_Stupefy_. Ginny," Hermione called, struggling over to the redhead. "Are you all right?"

"I… It's my ankle. I think it's broken." Ginny winced. The cries from the other side of the wall were still audible. "Who is that?" Ginny asked fearfully.

Hermione looked at Ginny's ankle.  It was definitely in an unnatural angle. She quickly muttered a spell to splint it, as she knew she wasn't as skilled in Healing to properly mend the broken bone. "I don't know, but we have to get out of here. Will you be all right?"

"Yeah, I'm okay. We have to help them," Ginny said softly, but determinedly, as the screams died down.

Hermione bit her lip. She knew they had to, but Ginny wouldn't be safe. She wouldn't be able to run away with a broken ankle.

"Hermione, don't look at me like that. I know what you're thinking, but I'm fine. Will you summon Malfoy's wand for me?" Ginny gave a disgusted look as she took Malfoy's wand from Hermione. "One of the last wands I would ever choose to work with, but what choice do I have? I need a wand."

Hermione nodded and walked over to the wall from which the screams had been emanating and placed a hand against the moist surface. "We should be able to get through with the Reductor curse,****although it'll probably need more than one person, Ginny," Hermione looked back to the redhead.

"Ready." Ginny nodded.

"One minute, I want to make sure we won't be blowing anyone to bits with this." Hermione cast a revealing charm at the wall. "Two people, there." Hermione pointed, "and there. No, wait. Three people, there's another one back there, behind these two." Hermione turned to make sure Ginny got this.

Ginny nodded once again. "One, two, three…" Together they cast the spell causing the wall to collapse in front of them.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

**_A/N:_**_ I just want to say a quick 'thank you' to everyone who's gotten this far in the fic and to everyone who's reviewed thus far!_

**_Margaret (JamieBell)_**_ – What I meant by the problem with Priori Incantatem was the whole brother wands thing that came into focus at the end of GoF. Mainly that two brother wands can't be used effectively in a duel against one another. When Harry was explaining this to Dumbledore et al., Dumbledore named the effect that happened when Harry's and Voldemort's wands dueled… Priori Incantatem. That's what I meant by the Priori Incantatem problem. I'm sorry if that wasn't clear!_


	6. Struggles

****

Chapter Six

Struggles

Ron kicked over a slab of what probably used to be a wall, looking around the grand hall in which they had converged. Their battle was winding down. It seemed the Order of the Phoenix would be triumphant in this battle.

__

Which is a good thing, Ron reminded himself.

Even though Ron was on the victorious side, he couldn't feel the thrill of their success. His mind was occupied elsewhere, and he couldn't muster up the strength to bring the task in front of him into focus. In his mind, the battle was nowhere near done.

Ginny was still missing, and on top of that, he didn't know where Hermione or Harry had run off to. Worst of all, he wasn't able to leave the battle scene to go find them. Not yet, at least. Ron had to stay put right now until there was some sort of order established.

"Weasley," a hoarse voice whispered from behind him.

Ron spun around, gripping his wand to see who it was. "Zabini." Ron sighed, and lowered his wand. Ron glanced Blaise Zabini over. He looked horrible, though he was not visibly injured. His eyes appeared sunken in, and they glistened as the boy glimpsed around with a look of confusion. He looked deathly pale. He looked the way Ron felt.

"All right, Zabini?" Ron had to ask.

The other man looked him wearily in the eye and said bleakly, "I'm alive."

Ron understood. Sometimes, it felt as though being alive was more painful than the alternative. "Be thankful for that," he managed to say, unsure if he really meant it. "What have you got?"

"Names and numbers," Zabini said simply. "There were a lot of Death Eaters who managed to Disapparate before we could get to them, but we were able to capture a decent amount. In total, so far, we've got thirteen, including the Minister of Magic himself, Lucius Malfoy."

Ron snorted. "At least one good thing will come of this--we'll be getting a new Minister of Magic."

"Yes," Zabini assented calmly. "Voldemort is nowhere to be found. Unsurprising. He always did prefer to send his minions out to do his dirty work." Zabini rubbed his forehead with his hand, as though trying to wipe it clean. "We've lost twenty of our people."

Ron swore heavily. "Twenty? That many?"

"Yes," the other man whispered. "We also have six MIA's--Liz… Elizabeth McDonald…" Zabini took a breath, and it seemed as though it pained him to continue. "Brady Ardel, Travis Ciaron, Emily Jeune, Hermione Granger, and Harry Potter."

Ron nodded and looked away, biting back the bitterness saturating the back of his throat. It was one thing to know it in your head, it was something else to hear your worst fear out loud.

He couldn't stay here.

Glancing around quickly, Ron spotted someone, and a thought came to mind. Ron walked purposefully past the rubble and the bound Death Eaters towards a person he could trust to handle this.

"Bill?" Ron approached his older brother.

Bill turned around, his fang-tooth earring swaying slightly, and his face relaxing at the sight of Ron. "We've got this section secured. There's still some activity outside. Should be under control soon."

Ron nodded somewhat impatiently. "Bill, I need you to do something for me."

Looking at Ron curiously, Bill said, "Go on."

"Take charge, will you? I can't stay here."

Bill looked at Ron for another moment and they shared a knowing look before Bill clipped him on the shoulder and nodded. "Sure thing. Stay on guard, eh."

Ron grunted in reply, and sprinted out of the hall.

He would find them, he had to. He would find them and they would all get out of this place in one piece, just like they had all those times at Hogwarts. Those had been horrible, but in the end they had all escaped. They would escape tonight.

They had to.

Ron ran through corridors, looking into rooms, but getting no closer to finding his friends. He was getting desperate.

He opened a large wooden door to his right and looked in. Empty, like all the others.

Ron swore and began to close the door. It was then that something in the room caught his eye. In the centre of the room was a silver sphere, and Ron felt his gaze drawn towards it.

"_Expelliarmus_," a voice behind him called and Ron felt his wand jerked from his hand.

Turning quickly, Ron's stomach plummeted at the same moment a raging fire burned through him. "You," he growled.

"Has the little boy lost his precious wand," Bellatrix Lestrange pouted mockingly.

Ron uttered a few choice words that would have made his mother pale.

"Oh. That's not very nice, now is it? I think a bit of punishment is in order for our bad boy." Thin chords of rope shot out of Bellatrix's wand and wrapped around Ron's body.

Through his struggles, Ron stumbled back against the door frame. A sharp pain ran up his back where it made contact with the hard surface.

"Now, how to punish you?" she asked, in mock consideration. "There's the traditional way… _Crucio_."

Ron's body exploded in horrific agony as he fell to the floor. He wanted to die; it seemed to be the only way to make the pain stop.

As the curse was slowly lifted he could hear her laughter bellowing through the air.

"Yes, there is always that, but it's not much fun. Too standard. No creativity at all." She took a step towards Ron as she muttered a spell to bring him to his feet.

Ron wanted to kill her. He wanted to kill her with his bare hands. He wanted to watch her die for what she'd done to everyone that was important to him. Taking Sirius away from Harry, attacking Hermione's parents, taking Ginny away and doing Merlin knows what to her.

"Let's see if we can't find something more fun." Bellatrix stepped close to Ron, so close he could feel her breath hitting his face. He shuddered in revulsion.

She dragged her fingers across the skin of Ron's face and a malicious twinkle sparked in her eyes. Ron flinched.

"I can think of something more fun," she said.

Ron felt as though he would be sick. "You can go to hell," he spat. "That would be enjoyable."

She gave him a slicing look. "I had something else in mind." With that she pulled Ron in to an open-mouthed kiss.

A wave of revulsion spread through him, and Ron knew he was going to be sick, and so he did the only thing he could think to do--he bit down. Hard.

Bellatrix screamed out and pulled back, blood streaming from her mouth. "You little bastard!" she hissed.

Ron could taste her blood in his mouth and spat it out hastily.

She lifted a hand to her mouth and touched the blood pouring from her lip. She looked at her blood-smeared fingers momentarily as she hummed, "On the other hand, I think the traditional methods would be better after all, boy. We can make them interesting. _Crucio_."

Ron fell back against the doorframe sharply, his body convulsing as pain screamed through his veins, his muscles, his skin.

"Yes," Bellatrix cooed treacherously, her eyes glazed over in anger. "The traditional methods are best with you. Cruciatus is a specialty of mine, after all, as I've no doubt you've heard."

Suddenly, a soft wind started blowing from the room with the sphere and a sly smile slithered onto Bellatrix's face. "Looks like there are more people are coming to play with you."

Ron spat again and looked directly into Bellatrix's eyes. "I'm going to kill you."

Bellatrix's head flew back and she laughed as the wind grew stronger.

"I know where they're coming from," Bellatrix whispered into Ron's ear. "That's where another, more feminine redhead was played with."

Ron's eyes grew wide, and he struggled against his bindings. A rage bellowed within him. The entrance to Ginny's cell was only a few feet away. "I'm going to kill you if you've done anything to her," he snarled.

Bellatrix pulled an exaggerated pout. "That's not very nice, is it?" She circled Ron like a lioness hunting her prey, giving him a calculated look. "Would you like to know about the games we played with her? Would you like to hear about the final game she ever played."

As the last few words registered in his brain, Ron froze, unwilling to believe it as truth. Ginny was dead.

"Liar!" he hissed, even as his gut felt as though it was being ripped out of him as the wind was as fierce as a squall.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Ginny stepped over the rubble of her cell wall, firmly grasping Malfoy's wand. It felt uncomfortable in her hand. It was heavy, unnaturally so, as though years of Dark Magic had added to its weight. Ginny didn't want to use it. It wasn't right, and she wouldn't be as powerful with it as she could be with her own. Ginny laughed dryly to herself. They probably snapped her wand in two the minute she had been captured…

"Ginny!" a familiar voice yelled out suddenly as she walked into the hallway. It was a sound that made Ginny's heart jump and she looked up, eager to find the owner of that voice.

But what she saw before her made her stop in her tracks.

Tom… no, not Tom… Voldemort stood across from Harry, wand lazily pulled and pointed directly at Harry's heart. Harry, wand at the ready as well, was staring wide-eyed at Voldemort. Ginny could tell he was struggling to keep his eyes there.

A high-pitched laughter filled the hall, piercing into Ginny's ears. It was a cold laughter, completely devoid of mirth. His eyes flared as he looked the two women over.

Ginny felt her insides freeze over.

"You think you can defeat me now." It wasn't a question. "Your friends can't help you. Nothing can help you, especially not your whores."

Next to Ginny, Hermione huffed indignantly, although the terror she must be experiencing was clearly audible in her voice.

"I'll kill your friends in front of your eyes," Voldemort continued, "and then, you."

Slowly, calculatingly, Voldemort moved his wand so that it was pointing directly at Ginny. His eyes still boring into Harry's, Voldemort opened his mouth. "_Avada Ke-_"

"_Crucio_!" Harry screamed out shrilly, urgently.

Hermione screamed, and Ginny's mouth dropped open as she watched Voldemort crumple to the ground. Her eyes widened and she turned to look at Harry. He was shaking terribly, almost as though he was having a seizure. She wanted to run to him, to hold him in her arms, but she found her feet glued to the ground.

When the spell was lifted, Voldemort sneered and stood up, looking them over.

An instant later, Voldemort had disappeared.

A stunned silence filled the hall as Ginny stared at the void where Tom - Voldemort had stood.

"What just happened?" she asked breathlessly as a slight rumbling was heard in the distance.

After a moment of hesitation, Hermione, looking as though somehow her brain had failed her, answered in a frustrated tone, "I don't know. There are anti-Apparation wards around this castle. We did tests. It could have been a Portkey, I suppose, but..."

Ginny nodded dumbly as the rumbling grew louder. "What is that noise?" she asked. She glanced over towards the other two and caught Harry's eye. What she saw nearly brought her to her knees. The look in his eyes was so feral, so concerned, and so powerful, Ginny didn't know what to do with it.

"Are you all right?" he asked, his voice harsh and scratchy and full of emotion.

"I-I think so," she answered softly, so softly, she wasn't sure she could be heard over the noise.

"We have to get out of here," Hermione's voice suddenly interrupted. "Now!"

Keeping his gaze locked on Ginny, Harry asked quickly, "Why?"

Looking around apprehensively, Hermione replied, "I don't like the sound of that noise. Something's happening. Come on." With that, she stepped back over the rubble into Ginny's cell.

Ginny turned to follow her, but was stopped almost instantly by a hand grasping her wrist. She spun around and was directly faced with a pair of emerald eyes.

"Are you all right?" he asked again, his voice seemingly even more scratchy than before. His hand rose and his fingers brushed against her cheek, pushing a stray lock of hair behind her ear.

Sharp bolts of heat flashed through her at his touch and she could barely manage a nod, let alone a verbal response to his question. The thrill of seeing anyone again, especially Harry, was overwhelming.

Even as she stood in the damp underground dungeon, all Ginny's mind could focus on was the way Harry's fingers felt grazing her neck, the way his tongue darted out to lick his lips, and the way his eyes were darting between her lips and her eyes.

"Ginny, I-" Harry began.

"Ginny! Harry!" Hermione's voice called out from within the cell.

Harry instantly took a step backwards and glanced towards the hole in the wall. "Come on," he muttered, placing a hand on her elbow to guide her through the rubble.

It was only then that Ginny realised the small rumblings she had heard before had grown to be almost deafening.

"Ginny!" Hermione shouted, just loud enough to be heard. She pointed towards a corner of the room and quickly continued. "The orb. It transported me here; do you know if…" Her last few words were drowned out by a sharp booming noise. It almost sounded like stone falling on stone.

"What?" Ginny screamed.

"Can we leave this way?" Hermione yelled.

Ginny thought for a moment, trying to recall how her minders would leave. "I think so," she called back, nodding, as another loud boom permeated the dungeon. This time, however, whatever was making the noise was not satisfied with just being audible. Dirt began falling from the ceiling as the walls began to sway unevenly.

"Let's go," Harry yelled, practically pulling Ginny towards Hermione and the orb.

"Wait, we have to take Malfoy. We can't leave him here," Hermione yelled, gesturing at the unconscious blond boy.

Harry glanced over at Malfoy, a look of pure disgust washing over his face. "What's he doing here? Why can't we just leave him?"

"_Mobicorpus_," Hermione muttered, levitating Malfoy's body. She quickly guided him over towards the orb, glancing up at the ceiling. "He shouldn't get the luxury of death. I want to see him locked away in Azkaban. We've got enough proof to give him a life sentence."

With her last words, the walls seemed to have had enough of their dawdling, and a large stone fell to the ground, landing a foot away from Ginny. Harry quickly pulled her into his arms, his eyes locked on the fallen stone.

"Come on," Hermione yelled again.

Ginny and Harry both rushed over, joining Hermione and Malfoy by the orb.

"What do we do?" Harry asked, his eyes transfixed on the orb.

"Just touch it," Hermione answered as another brick fell to the ground, shattering on impact. "I think it's like a Portkey, but not quite. On the count of three, shall we?"

"On the count of two," Harry said quickly, his eyes cast downward.

"Two then," Ginny said, seeing Hermione's questioning glance. There was no time for questions now. "One… Two…"

At once, the three of them placed their hands on the orb, Hermione holding fast to Malfoy's wrist. At once a wind picked up around them, blowing through Ginny's hair. With every moment the wind grew stronger. The walls were crumbling with the ceiling. The floor was shaking. It was a struggle to stand… a struggle to keep a grip on the orb… the wind was blinding.

An instant later, the wind pushed the four of them into the sphere.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Hermione opened her eyes and relief filled her. She knew this room. Dropping Malfoy's wrist, she looked towards the door and let out a blood-curdling scream.

There was Ron, bound and held at wand point by Bellatrix Lestrange.

For a moment there was stunned silence, as Bellatrix stared at the four new additions to the room through her heavy lidded eyes. Suddenly, she grabbed Ron and stood behind him, using him as some sort of human shield. Ron's face was red with fury as Bellatrix pointed her wand into his back.

There was something else, besides anger, shooting out of Ron's eyes. Hermione noticed this became particularly noticeable as Ron looked at Ginny. It was almost as though he was seeing a ghost.

"Drop your wands, or I'll kill this one," Bellatrix called out from behind Ron, her eyes just visible past his shoulders.

"Don't listen to her!" Ron called out harshly, staring at his friends pointedly.

Bellatrix let out a harsh laugh. "Are you willing to die for your friends? Do you _want _to die for your friends? That can be arranged… after we play a little game. Revive him," she commanded, nodding towards the unconscious Draco Malfoy.

Hermione glanced down at the crumpled form of the blond at her side before looking back at Ron. His eyes were wide and practically screaming for her not to do it.

"Now!" Bellatrix screamed. "Or he dies."

With a glance around the room, at her friends, Hermione slowly nodded.

"Hermione, no!" Harry yelled.

She turned towards him, trying to send him a message through her eyes that it would be all right. She blinked three times, hoping somebody would get the hint.

Turning her wand to Malfoy, she jerked her wand hand once… twice… thrice…

The next few seconds happened in a blur, and Hermione wasn't exactly sure what had happened until it was all over.

As she had motioned for the third time, Hermione had heard Ginny yell out a spell that had pulled Ron to the floor, leaving Bellatrix wide open for Hermione's disarming spell. What Hermione couldn't figure out was how Harry got from his spot next to Ginny to where he was presently.

Through the doorway, in the hallway, she could make the two of them out. Bellatrix was pushed up against the wall by a very fierce looking Harry Potter.

"Harry!" Ginny's voice rang out harshly through the stone room, and out into the corridor. Yet in all appearances, Harry seemed utterly unaware of anything but Bellatrix Lestrange.

Hermione rushed forward, falling to her knees next to Ron, who was looking back at her with wonderment.

"Hermione," he muttered, trying to right himself through the binds encasing his hands.

Hi, Ron," she mumbled back at him, as Ginny stepped around them and out the door to Harry. Hermione quickly freed Ron from his constraints and helped him to his feet.

"Stop! Harry, you're going to kill her!" Ginny screamed shrilly as she pulled at Harry's arms.

Hermione glanced over, and her mouth dropped open. She had never seen such raw hatred etched on Harry's face, and for a moment Hermione was truly terrified of him. Ginny was right, Harry looked as though he was going to kill Bellatrix; his arm was braced across her throat, cutting off the air supply. She was turning blue in the face as she desperately clawed at Harry's arm, drawing tiny streams of blood that trickled down his arm, dripping onto Bellatrix's robes.

Hermione had never seen Bellatrix Lestrange as frantic as she was at this moment. There was usually a poised, refined and haunting air to her. Now, she seemed desperate and like an animal as she tried to cling to her life.

And Hermione just stood there, gaping, as Harry strangled her, and Ginny pulled at him, trying to get him to release his grip.

"Please, stop," Ginny whimpered, tugging on his arm. "Harry, please. Don't do this."

Then, the last thing that Hermione would ever expect happened. With his free hand, Harry roughly pushed Ginny off him. Hermione could not contain the yelp of surprise that escaped her lips. Ginny flew across the hall, rammed into the wall and sank down to the floor, her eyes wide and staring uncomprehendingly at Harry.

Hermione felt, more than saw, Ron tense next to her, and she was finally able to move. She tightened her grip on her wand and pointed it at Bellatrix's head as Ron pulled Harry off of her. Ron was one of the few people who could control Harry without the need for magic, for which Hermione was highly grateful.

The moment Harry was out of the way, Hermione was ready to Stun the pathetic creature across from her. Yet, before she could form the words, Hermione's jaw dropped once more and her stomach turned in disgust. She looked to her side, at Ron and Harry, who was struggling like the damned against Ron's grip.

She could just make out, Harry muttering something.

"…I want her to die… She killed him… She took her away… I want to kill her…"

Hermione's eyes wandered back to the crumpled form of Bellatrix Lestrange and comprehension flooded her. Harry was still strangling her. Bellatrix still struggled, albeit now with much less enthusiasm, for air. Harry was still strangling her, but now he was doing it with magic.

"Harry, you have to stop," Hermione whispered, her eyes unable to break away from Bellatrix's face.

Harry was yelling now, as Bellatrix's movements slowed further. "She killed Sirius, and she took Ginny away from me! I want her to die," he choked out.

"I'm right here," Ginny said harshly as she picked herself off the floor and crossed over and placed herself in front of Harry. "I'm right here," she repeated sternly, before she clamped her lips down upon Harry's.

"Ginny!" Ron called out in surprise. Hermione, on the other hand, realised instantly what was going on and looked to Bellatrix for confirmation. Just as Hermione had thought, Bellatrix had stopped all of her struggling, and she seemed quite still on the stone floor.

Looking back at Harry, Hermione's suspicions were confirmed. Harry was breathing heavily and staring down at his feet. He was definitely not using magic against Bellatrix anymore.

As Ginny squatted down on the floor to check on Bellatrix, Hermione followed her with her eyes. She joined the redhead on the floor next to their common enemy. That was a very clever way for her to get Harry out of that trance.

Picking up Bellatrix's wrist with one hand, and keeping her wand on her with the other, Hermione checked for the woman's pulse. Once satisfied, she dropped both the wrist and her wand hand. She met Ginny's eyes and then Ron's before whispering, "She's dead."

A thick silence fell on the hallway.

"Come on," Harry said in a hollow voice, after a moment. He stepped over Bellatrix's body and offered a hand to Ginny. "I'm sorry," he muttered. "Are you hurt?"

Ginny shook her head negatively as she accepted Harry's hand and lifted herself off the floor. Hermione did note that the redheaded woman was suspiciously supporting her shoulder as though she was, in fact, hurt.

Harry started walking down the corridor, back towards the main hall, distractedly rubbing at his forehead.

"Ooph! Ron!" Ginny exclaimed, causing Hermione to look back at the two redheaded siblings. Ron had grabbed Ginny, and was now holding her in what looked like a bone crushing hug.

Ron was muttering something into his sister's ear, and Ginny's face grew serious. Hermione strained her ears to hear what her husband was saying, taking a step towards them in the process.

"She told me you were dead… they'd killed you."

"Ron, I…" Ginny started, as she hugged her brother back with incredible force.

"Let's go!" Harry's voice echoed against the corridor's walls making Hermione practically leap out of her skin. "You're not safe here."

Hermione knew Harry was right, but that didn't stop her from silently cursing him anyway for breaking up this family reunion. Quickly, she gathered Malfoy's limp form, making sure it followed the four through the labyrinthic halls of the dark castle.

They walked at a fast pace through empty corridor after empty corridor. Down eerily silent stairwells and through deserted rooms.

And then it happened. Harry dropped to his knees, clutched his hands on his forehead, and let out a sound Hermione would not soon, if ever, forget. The noise that came out of Harry's mouth was almost inhuman, and Hermione thought Harry had died.

A moment later, Harry fell silent. He wavered on his knees briefly before he pushed himself back to his feet. Harry turned slowly, to face his friends, and Hermione noted that there was something… grave etched in his eyes. She couldn't place what it was, but she knew that something had changed drastically in that last minute.

"Get out," Harry rasped through struggled breaths. "Get yourselves out. Make sure Ginny gets out. I… Get yourselves out to safety. I-I…" He paused briefly. "Be safe."

With one last look at his friends, Harry fled down the hall, deeper into the labyrinth, and Hermione suddenly knew what the look in his eyes had meant. It was the look of a man who was saying goodbye to his friends. It was the look of a man who knew he was about to die.

Before Hermione could call out, a blur of long red hair flew past her, in pursuit of the raven-haired man with the look of death. For a moment, she stared, horrified as her friends disappeared into the dark… but only for a moment.

Hermione shook herself from her stupor and locked eyes with Ron, and she knew instantly that they would, without a doubt, follow their best-friend as they always had and always would.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

**__**

A/N: This chapter took a very long time for me to write, so I want to thank everyone for being so patient with me while I was working on it. I had an incredibly busy summer, and couldn't find much time to write. I hope the long wait wasn't in vain, and that you enjoyed reading this chapter. Thank you to Jalyn, Julie and Ranee for all the help with working out the kinks.


	7. Whispers of the End

**Chapter Seven**

**Whispers of the End**

_"Cowards die many times before their deaths,  
The valiant never taste of death but once." _

_Shakespeare (Julius Caesar, II.ii.32-33)_

Ginny sat alone in the living room at the Burrow, staring at the fire. She still couldn't believe what had happened the week before. It was almost surreal. Voldemort was gone.

Eight years after his return, after eight years of war, he was gone. For good this time; she saw it happen. Harry had done it and Ginny had borne witness to it all.

Ginny thought back on the events of one week ago. How Harry had run after Voldemort, and how she had run after Harry, with Ron and Hermione close on her heels. There were a lot of details missing from her memory of that final confrontation, and everyday since then she tried to make some sort of sense of it all.

_Panting, Ginny tried to keep up with Harry, but he was simply running much faster than her. Her ankle was still hurting slightly from the fracture earlier that night; Hermione's healing spell had helped greatly, but there was still a great throbbing of discomfort. She watched Harry's raven hair disappear around a corner._

No!_ a voice screamed in Ginny's mind, and she tried to run just a little faster. She wouldn't lose him--she couldn't._

_As she huffed around the corner, her heart clenched up and she gasped for air. Where was he?_

_Coming to a stop, Ginny looked around, wide-eyed. "Harry," she whispered, her voice harsh. Unsurprisingly, there was no answer. Ginny frowned and took a step forward. Jetting an arm out, her fingers grazed the rough, stony walls and she looked in through a doorway._

_At the sight of the empty room, Ginny sighed out in frustration and then quickly froze, her ears perking up. She'd heard _something_, but it was quickly lost as Ron appeared in the hallway looking at her with wide, alert eyes._

"_Where is he?" he asked urgently._

"_Shush!" Ginny snapped, her ears searching for a hint of the noise she had heard a moment ago. She took a few steps in the direction she thought the noise had come from, yet, all she could hear was someone running toward them and then a slight 'oomph!'_

_Hermione had apparently run into Ron's back. Snapping her head around, Ginny confirmed what she heard. Hermione shot a confused look at Ginny and opened her mouth. "Where's Ha--"_

"_Shush!" Ginny used her arms this time, gesturing in a fit of urgency. She'd heard the noise again. Leaving Ron and Hermione where they were, Ginny continued down the hall briskly, only semi-confident she now knew where the noise had come from._

_Holding her breath, she approached a large door to the right. She only briefly took notice of the intricate carvings on the frame of the door before placing her palms on the harsh wood, and pushed._

_A thick green light fell on her face, and Ginny instantly knew she was in the right place. Squinting past the light, she could make out two forms facing each other, their wands pointed straight out as though ready to attack._

Clutching her hand fiercely to her mouth, Ginny swallowed deeply. That was new. She hadn't remembered that light or those silhouettes before, and she felt nauseous. That green light was perhaps what disturbed her the most. It was the harsh green of the Avada Kedavra Curse: a sickly colour.

Ginny shut her eyes as tightly as she possibly could, trying to wipe that colour from her memory. She'd seen it too often during the war, and to have seen it with Harry standing right there had been terrifying.

Ginny brought her knees to her chest and tried to remember what had happened next. Failing miserably, she groaned in frustration. It just wasn't coming, no matter how hard she thought about it. Ginny knew she should be happy with just remembering one more fact about that night, but she couldn't content herself with it. For some reason she couldn't explain, it felt important to remember it all tonight, and she was extremely frustrated when she found she still couldn't remember everything.

Her fingers digging into her legs, Ginny thought back on the next piece of that night she could remember.

_Ron and Hermione were in the room that was completely filled with green light now. They were all there, wands out, staring at what was happening before them, between Harry and Voldemort and the green light. Ginny didn't know what to do, but she was there, ready to help Harry in anyway she could._

_It was then that Harry opened his mouth and shouted out a spell Ginny had never heard before. Her eyes opened wide as she waited for something to happen._

_When nothing did happen, Ginny frowned and focused on Harry. His shoulders seemed to slump and his wand lowered slightly._

_Suddenly, the green light changed._

_It was no longer the sickly colour it had been, it morphed into a vibrant shade of green, one that seemed to exude life. It was an earthly, comforting green._

_Just as suddenly as the colour changed, a sharp white light burst forward through the centre of the green light. Ginny flung her arms over her head as the force of the light threw her roughly to the floor._

_The white burst of light was gone in a flash, taking with it, the green._

_When Ginny lifted her head, her eyes immediately searched out Harry and found him almost immediately. He was still standing in the centre of the room, but he was standing alone. Voldemort had fallen to the ground, and for all appearances he was dead. Ginny wasn't sure how she knew, but she felt in her heart that he _was_ dead._

_Lifting herself onto her elbows, Ginny tried to call out Harry's name but found she couldn't. It was as though her throat was sewed shut._

Ginny took a deep breath in her seat at the Burrow. She was trembling. The next bit of her memory of that night was the most vivid, and had been so ever since she woke in St. Mugno's. It was also, perhaps, the most terrifying.

_Harry's wand slipped out of his hand and clattered to the floor. A moment later, his knees seemed to give out and he fell, unceremoniously, to the ground._

_Ginny felt all the air rush out of her body as fear invaded her. Not even bothering to try to get to her feet, Ginny crawled on all fours across the stone floor._

_As soon as her hand touched Harry's arm, she knew something was horribly wrong. He was cold… so cold._

_Ginny started to breathe heavily, her eyes fluttering around, as though trying to find something in Harry to assure her. She found nothing. Harry's eyes were closed, his face etched with an expression of pain, and when she hurriedly turned him on his back she realised he wasn't breathing._

_She felt a sob rise in her chest. _It can't be,_ she thought wildly. _Don't be dead. Please, Harry, don't be dead.

_Putting the palm of her hand on Harry's cheek, Ginny sucked in a struggled breath. He was so _cold_, and his body was disturbingly still. A strange feeling invaded her brain, and Ginny found she couldn't breathe. She felt some sort of sickness take over her, but it wasn't natural. There was magic in the sickness, and Ginny tried to turn to find out who had thrown a spell her way._

_Yet, before she could, Ginny collapsed onto Harry's chest and slipped into unconscious._

Still shivering, Ginny's hands tightened around her teacup, grasping for the warmth it was emanating. She winced slightly at a sudden pain in her hand, but kept a sturdy grip on the mug. Her left hand had been cut to shreds while she was imprisoned. She hadn't realized it at the time, but the skin had been broken and torn almost to the bone because of the figures she had traced on the stone floor in an attempt to hold onto her sanity. It was also the one part of her physical body that was proving resistant to healing.

The week since her rescue had not been what Ginny had expected. She hadn't expected to be rescued in the first place, but that was beside the point.

No. Ginny had imagined it would be like the week following the Chamber of the Secrets incident. She figured she would be overwhelmed with nightmares, and that she would just feel wretched all over.

However, this week hadn't been like that at all. In fact, it hadn't seemed as though anything had happened at all; it was as though it had been a normal week, aside from the obvious ramifications of the Final Battle. Her imprisonment seemed more like a dream than anything else. The only remnant of it, besides her hand, was she had been unusually cold and had to have a fire going and have blankets covering her at all times.

Ginny had spent two nights in St. Mugno's before returning to the Burrow to be properly mothered by her mum. Outwardly, Ginny resisted this coddling, however, on the inside, she was secretly comforted by it. Molly had been in her element, fussing over her daughter's every movement. Ginny had been confined to her bedroom for a day before convincing her mother to let her wander the house, a house that seemed to be deep in mourning. She hadn't been allowed out of the house at all until earlier that day.

That morning, Ginny had woken up very early and quietly dressed in simple black robes. After four hours of staring out of her window in deep thought, she had gone to Parvati Patil's memorial service.

It would be the first service of many.

Ginny couldn't help but go. She felt it to be a responsibility of hers. Hermione had confided that she, Ginny, had been the inspiration, so to speak, for the attack; how could she not go to every single one of the memorial services of those who lost their lives in the battle.

They had given their lives so that Ginny, and the other prisoners, could be free. Some of the prisoners had died during the collapse of the dungeon, but most had survived and were currently recuperating in St. Mugno's.

Ginny had gone to Parvati's memorial service and sat in the back row, in the corner, and watched as Parvati's family and friends grieved. She watched the man she had learned was Henri, Parvati's fiancé, give a eulogy in broken English and it had nearly ripped Ginny's heart in two. Yet she didn't cry a tear throughout the service. She had wanted to--she still wanted to--but she couldn't. It was as though her tears were blocked.

Ginny hoped she would be able to find that release before the next day, when she would go to Michael Corner's memorial service.

Suddenly, the fire flamed up, spitting green flames high. Ron ambled out of the fireplace, quickly followed by Hermione.

A moment later, Harry walked out of the fireplace as well.

"Hey, Gin," Ron greeted her. "All right?"

Ginny nodded absently. "Yourself?" She barely heard his reply, though, her focus was pulled directly to Harry. It was the first time she had seen him since her rescue. Shifting around the room uncomfortably, Harry was avoiding her eyes like a champion.

"All right, Harry," Ginny heard her voice scratch out.

A grunt was all the response she got.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"I have to have a reason to see my favourite sister?" Ron teased.

"I'm your only sister, you prat."

"Same difference."

"We just had a meeting at Grimmauld Place, and we thought we'd stop in and see how you were doing," Hermione explained as she plopped down on a chair.

Ginny didn't really want to talk about how she was doing and decided now was as good a time as any to change the subject.

"Hermione," she said, turning towards the brunette. "How are things going with Malfoy? Have they set a trial date yet?"

Hermione's brow instantly furrowed, and Ron swore from across the room and glared at Ginny.

"What? What happened?"

"Nothing," said Hermione. "That's the problem. He's in a holding cell for the moment, but the Ministry is not taking this lightly."

"The Minister of Magic and his son are being held as supposed Death Eaters," spat Ron angrily. "No, they're not taking this lightly at all. Especially since most of them are bloody Death Eaters or Death Eater supporters themselves. Bastards."

"Ron," Hermione chided. "They say there's not enough evidence to convict Draco. Lucius has already been impeached and has left office. Madam Bones is stepping in for now, thank goodness."

Ginny was stunned. "What do you mean there's not enough evidence to convict? What about his wand? Didn't they do Priori Incantatem?"

Hermione and Ron exchanged glances. "They have," Hermione said slowly.

"So what's the problem?"

"They're trying to dump it on you, Gin," Ron said furiously.

"Me?" Ginny asked, utterly confused. "How do they plan to do that?"

"You were in possession of the wand," Hermione said simply.

"She didn't use it!" Harry exclaimed from across the room.

Ginny looked over towards Harry. She was half shocked by his outburst, considering his recent silence, and half grateful for his unconcealed support.

"Of course she didn't," Hermione snapped. "And they went back far enough with Priori Incantatem to know that there were more Unforgivables used with that wand than could be muttered in one night. They're just being difficult."

Still wanting more information, Ginny pressed on with questions. "Can they do anything to me? Madam Bones is just allowing this? I always thought she was fair."

"She is fair," Hermione said instantly. "She's one of the few in the Ministry who are using their brains. If it wasn't for her, Malfoy would be back out on the streets with a pardon in hand."

Ginny let this information sink in for a moment, before her mind wandered back to her other question. "And what about me? You said they're trying to pin something on me? Can they do anything?"

Hermione averted her eyes and Ron gripped the sides of his chair so tightly his knuckles turned white. Across the room, Harry stood abruptly, walked to a window and stared outside.

"What?" Ginny asked tentatively as uncertainty filled her insides.

"They're going to try," Hermione said softly as Ron swore violently. "They can't do anything, really. It's just threats. It's not your wand and you were never witnessed using it."

"But they're going to try?" Ginny asked.

Hermione nodded and Ginny swore.

"Ginny! You're as bad as your brothers. Honestly." Hermione sighed and went back to the topic at hand. "I wouldn't worry about it; they don't have any evidence against you."

"Right," Ginny said bitterly. She looked across the room, trying to catch Harry's eye, however, he was still looking resolutely out of the window. Shaking her head, Ginny muttered, "I'm tired. I'm going to sleep. Goodnight."

"Are you all right, Gin?" her brother asked her.

"I'm fine, just tired." Frowning, Ginny dashed out of the room.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Harry had watched Ginny retreat up the stairs with a heavy heart an hour or so ago. He'd been planted in the same chair for a good forty minutes now, doing nothing but staring at his hands, or the wall, or the dying fire. Ron and Hermione were stationed in a love seat across the room talking in conspiratorial whispers.

This was the first time in a week he'd been able to show his face at the Burrow. He'd been dealing with his own demons back at Grimmauld Place, after sleeping for approximately three days straight. He'd killed people last week. Something he'd done before, but somehow this time it felt different. He'd killed Bellatrix Lestrange. After years of wanting her dead, he'd finally killed her.

Harry snarled softly. The way he killed her was bad. The way he'd lost control like he did…. And worst of all, in that uncontrollable rage, he had hurt Ginny.

And _that _was unforgivable.

That was what had occupied his mind since he woke up. Well, that, and having done what he'd been set out to accomplish for years; he had killed Voldemort.

He'd served his purpose in the wizarding world. He'd fulfilled the prophecy and defeated Voldemort; he was no longer needed.

Harry didn't know whether to be elated or devastated by that.

"I'm going to the loo," Harry announced suddenly as he stood up and walked towards the stairs, ignoring the curious looks Ron and Hermione were shooting him.

He knew why he had accepted Ron and Hermione's suggestion of coming to the Burrow today. They'd offered everyday since he'd been conscious, but Harry had always declined. Until today.

He wanted to see Ginny. He wanted to apologize, to beg her forgiveness that he knew he didn't deserve. But most of all, he'd missed Ginny. It sounded sentimental as hell, but damn it, it was true.

Harry slowly made his way up the stairs, pausing on each step, trying to muster up the courage Gryffindor was so famous for. He had no excuses now. No Voldemort behind every corner. No prophecy looming over his head.

It was time to do what he should have done ages ago. No more delays. No more excuses. It was now or never.

As he came upon Ginny's closed door, Harry took a deep breath. His courage still seemed to be failing him, and he cursed himself for it. He rested his hands on the door frame and leaned his head against the door.

Bloody hell. He had defeated Voldemort; surely he could knock on a door. Even if it was Ginny's door.

It was then he heard it.

Harry strained his ears. Yes, he'd definitely heard right. Muffled cries of a struggle were emanating softly from her room.

"Ginny?" he asked as he knocked on the door. There was no answer so he tried again. When there still was no answer, Harry turned the doorknob and entered the dark room.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

_**A/N**: Gah! It's been forever since my last update! I hope the wait was worth it. Special thanks to Julie, Ranee and Jalyn, and to those reading and reviewing! I really appreciate it. And a very special congratulations to Julie and her new baby! throws confetti_


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